Power complex

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy appears to believe in the biblical commandment “love thy neighbour” only when it comes to power generation but not political power. At a gathering of state industrialists recently, he punned on the word “power” when asked a question about the power situation (as in electricity generation) in the state. “Andhra Pradesh is getting rain. But for power generation we need rains in Karnataka and Maharashtra. I request you to pray to appease the rain gods to shower mercy on our neighbouring states,” he piously told the audience at an award function organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Hyderabad on Monday. Then, in an oblique reference to the stiff challenges to his government, both within his party and outside, he said, “I know that we have a major problem with power,” the power in this case referring to his politically volatile government. For this “power problem”, he requested industrialists to focus on their business and not to get into politics because “it is more complicated”.