REPORTERS’ DIARY : Balmoor Venkat getting too big for his boots?

The upper house, at least in good old days, symbolised grey eminence.  Over the years, the decline in standards of public discourse among netas has started reflecting there too. The latest stormy petrel to rile others is National Students of India (NSUI) state unit president Balmoor Venkat who, as MLC, has been getting too big for his boots. Power seems to have gone to his head upon becoming MLC. Going by his arrogant behavior while touring the state in his capacity as NSUI chief; people say he thinks he is deputising for Revanth Reddy. Not just in terms of accessibility but also his words do not befit his stature. During a meeting in Nizamabad, Venkat went all-out to slam Dharmapuri Arvind, calling him ‘bald and a mad dog’. Politics apart, Arvind is a Member of Parliament from Nizamabad, who had won against former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha. Venkat went on to say: “We are enough to answer him”. In fact, even a person within the Congress said: “It is difficult to get hold of him”. At one point, Revanth Reddy had said the Legislative Council “looks like an Irani cafe” and that it needs some intellectuals. Alas! It looks like Venkat is out to make an Irani cafe look far better!