As a staunch and thoroughbred Hyderabadi senior citizen, I am ashamed and amazed at the frequency and quantum of corruption in recent years (Hyde and Seek, Sep 17). The legacy started with Mari Chenna Reddy and it was carried on by his followers irrespective of political hue and honed perfectly by YSR. To begin the loot, you have to get elected; once elected, the modus operandi is simple. Do not upset the applecart of the poor and illiterate, who constitute 60 per cent of the electorate, provide a few goodies and at the time of elections, ensure the gullible free flow of cash, liquor, biriyani and saris. The EC’s vigil on such shenanigans is an eyewash or grossly mismatched. The Centre is not just a passive onlooker but a conniving partner. The police and bureaucracy are perfect handmaidens. As ex-Praja Rajyam Party leader Chiranjeevi once commented, when it came to corruption, Naidu a was a retailer and YSR a wholesaler. I’m sure Jagan’s assets are to the tune of Rs 1,00,000 crore.
M.A. Raipet, Secunderabad
All the people involved indirectly in scams are from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, not from the Telangana area. And hence the demand for a separate state, of which Hyderabad will be the capital.
Vineet Reddy, Hyderabad
Telangana has its share of scamsters, be it Balraj Gouda, who started as a toddy tapper and is now worth Rs 1,000 crore, as a major pointsman in the AP liquor mafia. Others include Balraj’s own patron Devender Gouda, along with Damodar Raja Narsimha and P. Sudarshan Reddy, both significant investors in the breweries that produce most of the spurious and non-duty paid liquor.
Subba Rao, Dallas
Just wait for the next elections when new political parties come into power. We’ll aim for global recognition.
Ram Yeggina, Hyderabad
Corruption begins at the top in Andhra Pradesh. Consider the huge sums paid as bribe to Lord Tirupati and Shirdi!
V.N.K. Murti, Pattambi
Our courts are too sloppy and ineffective. In a civilised democracy, such Olympian corruption would have led to the instant appropriation of dubious assets and the guilty would be put in prison. In the US, scamsters are handed severe punishment in a year. Ditto with the UK. It is only in our country that a few hundred families can usurp the precious assets of the country.
D.C. Joshi, Jaipur
Andhra Pradesh/Hyderabad’s dalliance with financial irregularities started perhaps with the chit fund culture. In the IT industry, the state’s reputation of faking resumes and surrogate interviewing was always legendary—all for a one-way ticket to the land of milk and honey—the US.
Arun Maheshwari, Bangalore
It’s thoughtless of Outlook to have criminalised Hyderabad so. Hyderabad might have reported more scams than any other state, but it’s all thanks to an active citizenry, not courtesy judicial activism or a ‘free’ press. If political corruption is really on top of every reformer’s mind, they should force their way into joining the principal political parties such as the Congress or BJP and enforce values from within rather than start new outfits. For, whatever said and done, these few parties have attained critical mass and will remain where they are. It’s foolish to think one can decimate their influence.
Sundara Yerrapragada, on e-mail
I have no e-mail right now due to power failure, hence this letter by snail mail. Not only does Hyderabad reek of scams, it also became highly communal after the fall of Babri Masjid, with the communal MIM taking another communal party, the BJP, head-on. The bomb culture was brought in during the NTR regime. With abductions and killings galore, the city also scores high on the crime graph. All ‘development’ in the city is tied to the real estate business, leading to lopsided growth. The late YSR used Indiramma-Rajiv welfare schemes to the hilt to help his son.
S. Raja Ram, Hyderabad
Why single out Hyderabad? What about the National Rural Health Mission scandal in Uttar Pradesh? Is it not reported because it’s too close to New Delhi and there are too many interested players and parties to contend with?
M.K. Saini, New Delhi
The scam capital of India is our very own national capital, New Delhi. The only difference is that Delhi’s power elite have learned how to hide their dirt professionally, something the more naive Hyderabadis, Bangaloreans and Chennaiites have yet to learn.
Ganesh Natrajan, on e-mail
Mumbai and Delhi can beat Hyderabad hands down.
Kiran Voleti, Chennai
