Feud between sitting MLA and ex-MLA over Bhadrachalam town CI posting

Both MLA and ex-MLA trying to gain upper hand over each other in posting of the town CI

Kothagudem: The battle between Bhadrachalam sitting MLA Dr Tellam Venkat Rao and former MLA Podem Veeraiah to have a say in the postings of officials and transfers has been proving troublesome to the officials.

The feud among the former and sitting MLAs led to a political controversy over the posting of the Bhadrachalam Town Police Station Inspector of Police as they both are trying to gain an upper hand over each other in posting of the town CI.

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Many police officials show interest in getting posted as Bhadrachalam Town Police Station CI as the post holds some importance because of the significance of Sri Seetha Ramachandraswamy Devasthanam which falls under the jurisdiction of the police station. Generally, the sitting MLAs also prefer their man to be in that post to get their work done smoothly.

After the Congress party came to power, Veeraiah, chairman of Telangana Forest Development Corporation Limited, in March 2024 was said to have managed to get the then-serving CI, R Venkateshwarlu transferred to Chunchupally in the district 20 days after he was posted at the police station.

Venkateshwarlu was replaced by CI, Sanjeeva Rao, reportedly at the behest of Veeraiah. This development was said to have irked Dr Venkat Rao, who as the local MLA wanted to have his own man in the post.

The MLA after waiting for some time ensured that Sanjeeva Rao, who served as Bhadrachalam CI for eight months, transferred to some other police station and got him replaced by B Ramesh a few days ago. It was said that the outgoing CI got miffed at leaving the post so early.

Following the above development, Veeraiah, a follower of Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka took the matter to the notice of the latter saying that he was being belittled by the sitting MLA.

On the other hand, Dr Venkat Rao also complained to Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy against Veeraiah alleging that the former MLA has been interfering in the official affairs in his constituency by overriding him.

The public in the constituency has been expressing concerns over the political interference in the posting of police officials in the town. Frequent transfer of officials for political needs might affect the maintenance of law and order, stated a resident Eshwar Kumar.