Good luck to the new Telugu news portal: Korada.com

Recently, a good colleague of mine in Lok Satta Party 'Naresh Siramani' has started a Telugu news portal called www.Korada.com. I request you to check the site. I hope that the articles in that website will enrich your perspective.

Naresh has a very good insight on political developments, and he is passionate about bringing about a change in our society through better politics.

I worked with Naresh on social causes from 2012 to 2014. He ended up directing my 'Dilip for Malkajgiri' campaign video too.

I wish Naresh and his team good luck in this endeavour.

My prediction that Andhra Pradesh will not get Special Status continues to hold good

Late-2013, I had publicly stated that if Telangana state is created, then Andhra Pradesh will not get Special Status from the Center. People believed the political parties and voted them when they promised Special Status. These parties came to power. Yet, I continued to maintain my prediction that Andhra Pradesh will not get Special Status.

People failed to see the fundamental logic and they continue to do so. That is why, they got fooled at the time of elections and are continuing to get fooled.

Firstly, please understand that whenever Center gives Special Status to a certain state, it is at the expense of all other States in the Indian Union. All the Southern States of India are comparatively progressive (both socially as well as economically) compared to most of their Northern and Eastern counterparts. I agree that some districts in each of the Southern States are backward. But it is not enough of a strong case to justify Special Status.

Why will other states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, etc., agree to a Special Status only to Andhra Pradesh? No other state with a sane mind will agree to a Special Status to Andhra Pradesh, because it hurts them.

If at all Center gives Special Status to Andhra Pradesh, then Center has to burn a lot of its political goodwill across the country. Why will it do that?

Let's get realistic.

AAP victory in Delhi: Prediction of my sources in Delhi proved correct

On Jan 29th, I openly declared that AAP will win in Delhi elections, as per my sources. At that time, most of the survey agencies and news channels were predicting a slender victory margin for BJP. Only from Feb 1st onwards, most of the news channels started speaking about AAP taking a slender lead over BJP in Delhi.

Today, my sources and my decision to publicly declare their observation proved to be correct.

All the best to AAP in Delhi. I hope they will work diligently towards turning Delhi into a well-administered global city, that the city and her people deserve.

Congratulations to the newly elected Executive Board of People For Lok Satta (PFL)

As a member of the founding Executive Board and as the Vice President - Finance in the first elected Executive Board of People For Lok Satta from 2009 to 2012, I congratulate the third elected Executive Board that will be effective from 2015 to 2017.

President: Raghuram Tadimalla
VP, Finance: Venu Sadu
VP, Memberships: Shravanthi Thirunagari
VP, Projects: Prakash Kapila
VP, Events: Nag Maddali
VP, PR & Media: Pradeep Chukkapalli
VP, Andhra Pradesh: Venkat Didugu
VP, Telangana: Anil Atyam
VP, Karnataka: Kailas Simha

Among these, I have closely worked with Venkat Didugu, Anil Atyam, Prakash Kapila, Raghuram Tadimalla, Shravanthi Thirunagari and Pradeep Chukkapalli in serving the nation.

Venkat Didugu actually was the campaign manager for our 'Dilip for Malakjgiri' election campaign which turned out to be the most prestigious contest among all the constituencies of United AP that went to polls in 2014.

Venkat Didugu, Anil Atyam, Raghuram Tadimalla, Prakash Kapila and Shravanthi Thirunagari were also donors for our notable campaign 'Dilip for Malkajgiri'.

I wish them good luck.

My sources: AAP to defeat BJP in Delhi elections

My sources in Delhi are passing on the message to me that AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, is going to defeat BJP, represented by Kiran Bedi.

They might be right. Or might be wrong. If they are right, here are my reasons:

1. Kiran Bedi joined BJP way too late into the campaign. This is in line with what I have been advocating: people deserve at least six months time to get to know the detailed manifesto and views of their prospective leaders.
2. Voters are Delhi are pleasantly intelligent to grasp that elections has nothing to do with Modi or central government. These elections are about Delhi. This is in line with what I have been advocating: issues dominating the central and state elections should have different themes.

Again, my sources might be wrong. Take this for what it is worth.

Entry of Kiran Bedi into politics is in line with my stand and action

When I plunged into electoral politics in 2012 with a goal that I should play my part to inspire the best and the brightest to enter into politics, I was well received. However, there was a lot of skepticism at various levels. Jayaprakash Narayan, Ashwin Mahesh, Meera Sanyal, Captain Gopinath and few others were the only names that people had in their minds. Among these, only Jayaprakash Narayan and Ashwin Mahesh had really gone into the people and had organized extensive fund raising activities among common people, while delivering their message.

As I moved to Hyderabad, we all know that 'India Against Corruption' movement and Aam Aadmi Party happened at the same time, resulting in certain qualified people too running for the office, funding their effort with public donations. I found that I had some welcome company. Then Nandan Nilekani happened for the 2014 General elections, though he was not active in raising donations from the public for his campaign.

Now, we have Kiran Bedi. I welcome her to electoral politics. I hope that she will soon start making efforts to raise donations from the public to meet the expenses of her political activities.

I am confident that this tribe will only increase as the Indian society becomes more broad-minded, more mature and more educated.

My freedom of expression regarding religions

1. I have the right to criticize or ridicule any religion, any prophet or God
2. If the religious sentiments of any person are hurt due to my words or actions, it is their problem, and not mine
3. Freedom of speech is absolute and universal. There are no shades of grey.
4. Anti-blasphemy laws in India and other countries should be altered to factor in the absolute freedom of speech
5. No religious practice is sacred if it comes in the way of freedom of speech and basic human rights
6. I am doing a great service to the society and to the people following a particular religion if I use rationality to criticize or ridicule any aspect of that religion

Thank you.