A day after Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had staged a silent protest in Delhi questioning the Centre’s decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, political circles were abuzz with the talk of the AICC leadership initiating disciplinary action against Kiran Reddy for his ‘misdemeanour’.
Some vernacular TV channels went to the extent of making guesses that Kiran might be asked to step down from the top post in the next couple of days, paving the way for imposition of President’s rule in the State.
What gave credence to this speculation is that AICC state affairs in-charge Digvijaya Singh’s reported comments before the Telangana Congress leaders, who had met him in Delhi on Wednesday, that a key decision with regard to Kiran would be taken by the Congress high command soon after the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday.
Telangana Congress leaders such as Deputy Chief Minister C Damodara Rajanarasimha, ministers J Geeta Reddy, D K Aruna and D Sridhar Babu and Rajya Sabha members V Hanumantha Rao and Palvai Govardhan Reddy and government chief whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy had called on Digvijaya in Delhi on Wednesday and complained against the attitude of Kiran Reddy.
According to these leaders, the AICC point man dropped hints to them that the party leadership was not at all happy with the way the chief minister was defying the Centre’s decision on Telangana.
When the Telangana Congress lawmakers wanted to know why the party leadership was hesitating to act against Kiran Reddy, the AICC point man is understood to have assured them that action against the chief minister would be taken after the Rajya Sabha polls.
In the wake of Digvijaya Singh’s remarks against Kiran Reddy, some Telangana Congress leaders have begun predicting action against the chief minister in the next few days.
Some Congress leaders say that once the Telangana bill is approved by Parliament, the Centre will impose President’s rule in the state to form governments in both states. As governor ESL Narasimhan will be in Delhi on Feb 11 and 12 to attend the 44th conference of governors, the Centre might chalk out its action plan in consultation with Narasimhan. However, sources in the Raj Bhavan rule out this possibility. “The governor’s Delhi visit for the conference was fixed three months ago,” said the sources.
However, not many are ready to buy this theory citing the recent incidents of Kiran Reddy persuading Congress rebel Adala Prabhakar Reddy to withdraw from the Rajya Sabha race which was more in the nature of protecting the party’s interests.
Even the silent protest undertaken by Kiran Reddy in Delhi along with his Seemandhra peers, was seen by many as an act played as per the script prepared by his Delhi bosses to revive the party’s fortunes in Seemandhra.
The participation of staunch loyalists of the AICC high command such as Botcha Satyanarayana, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and P Bala Raju along with several Union ministers in the protest strengthens this belief. Some Seemandhra Congress leaders therefore think their party leadership might not dump Kiran who has successfully kept the party’s Seemandhra flock intact with his ‘rebellious’ posture. However, some others say that their high command may go to the extent of sacking him to make him a ‘hero’ in Seemandhra in the run-up to the general election.
Though nobody knows what is in the mind of Kiran Reddy, some of his close aides say that he might prefer to put in his papers if the Telangana bill gets the nod of Parliament.
“If Parliament gives its nod for the T-bill, Kiran will have no option but to quit as there will be two governments in the state. He would also like to be remembered as the CM who made all efforts to keep the state united,” a Congress leader said.
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