Assembly chief marshal sacked

Amaravathi: The chief marshal of the Andhra Pradesh assembly Veluru Ganeshbabu was sacked from his duties and sent to his parent department in the issue of the unauthorized shifting of the AP assembly furniture.

Ganesh babu an assistant commandant in Octopus was working as the chief marshal on deputation in the AP assembly. In a police inquiry, Ganeshbabu revealed that he helped former Speaker Dr. Kodela Siva Prasada Rao to shift assembly furniture to Sattenapalli and Narasaraopeta, for the latter’s personal use.

In an interesting turn of events, on Thursday night some miscreants tried to steal some computers. Dr. Kodela alleged that the leaders of YSRC were behind the theft.

When Dr. Kodela was Assembly Speaker he shifted some furniture from the AP Assembly in Hyderabad to his offices in Guntur and Sattenapalli leaders of the YSRC brought it to the fore that he was in possession of the public property. Agriculture minister K. Kannababu said that this was an example of how a lot of public money was looted by the Telugu Desam government. A police inquiry is underway into the issue.

Dr. Kodela clarified that he is ready to return the furniture or pay for the items. “I have written to the authorities concerned about the shifting of furniture to my office. But so far I have not received any communication from them,” he told the media. But he seems to be at the receiving end, particularly in this case. Previously there are allegations that Kodela’s family collected money known as ‘K” tax from businessmen in Sattenapalli. His son and daughter were charged in cases of cheating and intimidation in Sattenapalli and Narasaraopet after YSRC was voted to power.

There battle between Kodela and YSRC has been ongoing for the past few years. “When 23 MLAs from our party switched sides in the previous government, Speaker Kodela didn’t initiate any action. We approached him many times and urged him to implement the anti-defection law. But our requests fell on deaf ears,” alleged a senior YSRC leader on condition of anonymity. It seems that Jagan’s party is turning the tables on the Kodela family.