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It is all out war between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha. The two have never seen eye to eye on any issue, and are now pitted in an all out war over Telangana issue.
A day after Reddy issued a not so veiled threat of quitting in protest against party’s decision to divide the state, Rajanarasimha reminded him that formation of Telangana was a pledge the Congress had made to the people of the region.
Addressing a meeting on Telugu language in Hyderabad, Reddy had gone ballistic against the Congress leadership on the Telangana issue and said that he was ready to take a tough decision in the interest of the Telugu people.
Reddy, who has been opposing Telangana state from the beginning said, “The interest of the party should not be above the welfare of the people.” He said that the people will throw out the parties and the governments who do not respect the wish of the people.
“Such governments have been dumped.” he said.
His outburst was being interpreted as a further encouragement to the ongoing agitation in Seema-Andhra regions and an open hint that he was ready to quit as the chief minister at an appropriate time.
Sources say that he is likely to quit in October when the state assembly session will be held and Congress high command will ask him to move a resolution in support of Telagana. “He will refuse to do it and resign”, said the informed sources.
Piqued by Reddy’s comments Rajanarasimha reminded him that he was very much in Congress when the party included the promise of Telangana in election manifestos in 2004 and 2009.
“What was he doing then?” he asked. “He should have resigned at the time if he did not like the promise of Telangana.”
Strongly criticising the chief minister for his regional bias, Rajanarasimha asked, “Do you think only those of other regions are the people of the state and not the people of Telangana?
Rajanarasimha said that the claims of Seema-Andhra people over Hyderabad can never be accepted. “Hyderabad has always been a part of Telangana and will remain so,” he added.