We have the answer for his silence. It was not strategic. It was emotional. Read on, you will know towards the end why he fell speechless.He was angry with the Congress high command. For what? Read on and you will realise and find yourself jaw-dropped at the end.
Elsewhere the same day. he was talking about action against the defiant legislators, even before they formally obscured the thread and stood in favour of the no-trust move. Another aside for his interesting newer facet is that he would be cool to the merger of YSR Congress into the Congress — he would neither welcome it nor would oppose it. Funny, isn’t it?
It is true that the thought of becoming the Chief Minister crossed his mind soon after the demise of YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Insiders say that Botcha was the first one to demonstrate his disgust and also resentment over the sycophancy of some over-enthusiasts to get YS Jaganmohan Reddy elected to the post of the Chief Minister. “Should we remain minions playing second fiddle to one leader or the other forever?” he reportedly asked one of his colleague ministers even as the body of the late YSR was lay in state in his camp office.
It is this defiance and that independent thought process which laid the staircase for his ascent to the position of the APCC president. His caste was a drawback for him to scale the dizzier height of becoming the Chief Minister, thanks to Congress traditions. But Botcha is a relentless fighter. If ever and, at all, fortunes favour the Congress, he would one day realise his dream. Until then, he will wait.
A true believer of the dictum — slowly and steady wins the race — that he is, he could knock off the slot of APCC president, a pivotal position in the Congress at a time when there is no towering leader in the State. This position couldn’t be scaled even by his political guru Penmetsa Sambasiva Raju (who is now in YSR Congress). And, what’s more? Botcha is perhaps the longest serving PCC president, being in the State Cabinet too simultaneously.
He competed with YSR in having maximum number of his family members fielded in the electoral fray for one position or the other. He got his wife Jhansi elected to the Lok Sabha, not once but many a time; his younger brother Appala Narasaiah (from Gajapathinagaram Assembly constituency), and a cousin Baddukonda Appala Naidu (Nellimarla Assembly). When YSR casually, yet cautiously, asked Botcha if it was not too much to field four from one family, he retorted in the politest possible manner: “I follow my leader”, meaning that YSR, his son (Jagan – Kadapa Lok Sabha), his brother-in-law (Ravindranath Reddy – Kadapa Mayor then )and brother (YS Vivekananda Reddy, MLC then) entering different elected bodies in the country.
Now coming to the brass tacks, Botcha remained silent not out of any strategy. But he was sulking. He was shocked to find the ground under his feet eroding with an AICC communique. That said, we need to discuss what is there in the so-called order of the high command. One man, one post. All PCC presidents and DCC presidents would not have the opportunity to contest direct elections. Would Botcgha want stay out of this race? certainly not. That made him sullen.
He is busy working his way out to extricate himself of a major embarrassment. Maybe, it is only a conjecture of time before he puts in his papers for the position of boss at Gandhi Bhavan. For he knows ‘C’ block in the Secretariat or even the ‘J’ block is more significant than the age-old dilapidated building adjacent to Aadab’ Irani Cafe.
Now, Botcha would actually want to be the helmsman in choosing Congress candidates. But, this new clause nipped his ambition in its bud. Instead, he is veering towards being part of the selection committee and yet take part in the direct elections. Will he win or lose is only a conjecture of time.
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