High Command Upset With CM Batting For United State & ‘Leaking’ Details. Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi are mighty miffed that the details of the presentation made by chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to the Congress core committee on Telangana have found their way to the press. Top level sources suggest that intelligence reports have indicated that details of the chief minister’s presentation –stoutly opposing formation of a new state - had found its way to sections of the media courtesy Kiran himself. This has led to the top Congress bosses being rather disconcerted.
Kiran had been told before he appeared for the core committee on July 12 that whatever be his personal take on the division of the state, as chief minister he would have to abide by the decision of the high command and implement their desires without a murmur. He was however free to air his views in private before the core committee but this had to be treated in confidence.
In fact, the Congress bosses had taken exception to reports on the morning of the core committee meeting that suggested that Kiran would resign if any decision on Telangana were to be taken. The reports were hastily denied by the chief ministers’ office and labeled as ‘mischievous’ .
Kiran had made a strong hour-long presentation before the core committee arguing persuasively why the state should be kept united. He had raised the sceptre of return of Maoism and the rise of the BJP in the event of Telangana being formed. The chief minister had also warned that MIM and BJP would clash in the new state, leading to exacerbation of communal trouble. Kiran had also pointed out to the disputes over sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters that would arise in the event of Telangana and Andhra becoming two states. He had also alluded to the investment climate that would be damaged.
The Andhra Pradesh chief minister had also suggested that a sizeable financial package would the answer to the Telangana problem. In the run-up to the core committee meeting, Kiran had been seeking a lengthy meeting with Sonia Gandhi to present the package to her. But to no avail.
Analysts averred that Kiran would not be unduly perturbed by reports that the Congress bosses are upset with him. “Kiran is domiciled in Hyderabad but would have to do politics in Andhra if the state is divided. There he will have equity with the public only if he is seen as having opposed to bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh,” a political analyst averred. “If he is seen as a namby-pamby who could not stand up to the diktats of the high command that will be the end of his political career,” the analyst added. Other analysts felt that it would make sense for Kiran to quit the moment Telangana is announced.
That will ensure that he is not the chief minister of the state when Andhra Pradesh is bifurcated. What Kiran is thinking on the matter is not known.
For those who came in late, Kiran was the speaker of the legislative assembly when Telangana was announced in December 2009. He is seen as playing a significant role in the post Telangana announcement that was reversed within a fortnight.
For the Congress high command, the prospects of a chief minister resigning in the wake of a new state being announced will hardly be good news. This would compromise the party in the Andhra region.
