Chandramohan earns CM's wrath

HYDERABAD: Chief minister ChandrababuNaidu is said to have reprimanded information minister S Chandramohan Reddy forparticipating in a meeting TDP party functionaries and legislators had withNellore district collector Anantha Ramu in the Assembly premises onTuesday.The chief minister also reportedly rebuked Reddy and thegovernment whips for their handling of the issue. Naidu’s latest move tointeract with party leaders from each district — with district collectorsin attendance — ostensibly to discuss development issues has run intorough weather with the Congress alleging that the ruling party is turningdistrict collectors into a “Yellow Shirt’’brigade.The TDP supremo began the exercise of meeting constituencyin-charges and MLAs over dinner with Visakhapatnam district on Tuesday. As aprecursor to these meetings, the collectors of the respective districts arereportedly being summoned to Hyderabad to interact with ministers and TDPMLAs.According to informed sources, Vizag district collector SunilSharma arrived on Monday and had discussions with forest minister Ch AyyannaPatrudu and TDP MLAs at the minister’s residence the sameevening.It was during a similar meeting that Nellore MLAs —minister Chandramohan Reddy included — were having with Anantha Ramu thatCongress MLAs burst in and made an issue out of government officials briefingTDP party functionaries while not inviting public representatives of otherparties.Congress legislators Anam Ramanarayan Reddy and AnamVivekananda Reddy found fault with the presence of TDP assembly constituencyin-charges in what the government described as an “official’’interaction. Reacting to the developments, CLP leader Y S Rajasekhara Reddyobjected the government turning the institution of the district collector intoTDP office. He alleged the government was using the official machinery tofurther its political gains and demanded that the opposition MLAs be includedthe district review meetings.