Reshuffle Lid on Dissidence
State Congress braces for change, as Sonia backs Chief Minister Reddy to tackle rising factionalism
The Congress high command is mulling an organisational revamp and Cabinet reshuffle in Andhra Pradesh. The party, on the backfoot at the Centre over Coalgate, is also facing embarrassments in the state over the CBI charge- sheeting Roads and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao in a case involving government orders. There are also reports of differences between Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee ( APCC) President Botsa Satyanarayana. For Sonia, the pressing concern is to get ready for the muchdelayed civic polls, in the hope this would provide the party a platform for their bid to retain Delhi in 2014.
With the imminent exit of Transport Minister Satyanarayana from the APCC presidency, some sections in the party feel Kiran Reddy should also be replaced. Satyanarayana has been at loggerheads with the Chief Minister for a while, leaving the party with no option but to replace him. He has been told the party wants to stick to its one- man- one- post norm. The APCC chief cites AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also in the Union Cabinet, to counter this logic.
However, the party is eager to replace the APCC chief, with an OBC can- didate as first preference. After the merger of the Praja Rajyam Party ( PRP) with Congress, they hoped this would be PRP founder Chiranjeevi, as it could win over the Kapu community vote. But the filmstar has indicated his reluctance to take up the job.
Congress leaders are also peeved with the 22 ministers who bullied Kiran Reddy into withholding Rao’s resignation. Rao, though, is only one of six state Cabinet ministers accused by CBI. While one of them, Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao, is in jail, four others— Kanna Lakshminarayana, J. Geetha Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Sabita Indra Reddy— are being probed for 26 government orders.
Kiran Reddy left it to party bosses to take a stand on the issue. He is apprehensive rival parties will demand resignation of the others. They are all influential in their respective constituencies and if made to resign, could harm the party’s chances.
Amid the balancing acts, the Chief Minister has embarked on his Indiramma Baata programme, to take the administration closer to the common man. The Congress may be on the defensive, but it is backing Kiran Reddy to put a lid on factionalism by shuffling his Cabinet.