Legislators from the Andhra-Seema belt say that Kiran Kumar Reddy knew about the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh since December. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy finds himself in a spot of bother over the Telangana issue with many Congress members of the legislative assembly planning a major revolt against him. It is unlikely that he will step down as Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that the CM would stay and oversee the process of bifurcation of the state. But Reddy continues to face heat from legislators who accuse him of keeping them in the dark.
Reddy expressed surprise about the United Progressive Alliance’s decision to accord statehood to Telanagana, but sources in the Congress tell rediff.com that he knew about the announcement all along. In fact, the Congress high command had conveyed the message to him a year ago.
MLAs from the Seema-Andhra region say that the CM had kept them in the dark. “He could have told us about it (creation of Telangana) so that we could have bargained better, but he is indebted to the high command, which made him the chief minister even though he was never a frontrunner for the post,” they said.
In a meeting on December 2012, Reddy was told that the Congress had decided that Telangana would be formed, as they needed an election strategy in the wake of Jaganmohan Reddy eating into their vote share in the Seema-Andhra regions. The CM did protest, but was told that there was nothing that could change the party’s decision.
Leaders from Seema-Andhra now say that Reddy kept this information to himself as he continued to assure them that the state would remain united. During the Congress core committee meet, the CM was told to make a presentation regarding the issue. While demanding a united Andhra Pradesh, he spoke in length about a package for Telangana, which he felt would solve the problem. During the meeting, he was told by Sonia Gandhi to only speak about a package for Seema-Andhra and not Telangana. On his return to Hyderabad, he met MLAs but was mum about the decision on statehood.
An MLA from Rayalseema, on condition of anonymity, says that Reddy cheated them “He knew about a separate Telangana, but because of his utmost gratitude to the high command (for making him CM) we feel he played along. He felt that if he had told us the truth then the agitations would commence early and the formation of Telangana would have been stalled. But the CM should have told us about the high command’s decision earlier. At least we would have bargained for a better package for our regions,” he said.
Reddy had said prior to Tuesday’s announcement that he would not be part of the Telangana formation process.
Congress MLAs feel that he should step down and a new chief minister should be appointed as he had cheated the people of the two regions. They want Konijeti Rosaiah to return as CM. However, if Reddy is forced to step down the Congress may consider Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi for the CM’s post.
Image: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy with Digvijaya Singh, Congress in-charge of the state
Photograph: SnapsIndia
