Kiran in diLemma over forming his own party
His failure to act swiftly after the Telangana Bill was passed in Parliament has dampened the enthusiasm of the ministers who were willing to support him.
Outgoing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is in two minds over floating a new political party in the Seemandhra region. The main reason he is developing cold feet is that most of the ministers who goaded him to form a party seem to have backed out.
Many of these ministers met at Kiran’s Camp Office in Begumpet and encouraged him to take on the high command, which has totally sidelined him and his arguments against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Ministers like Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Kondru Murali Mohan, Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, Peethani Satyanarayana and Shailajanath assured Kiran that they would stand by him.
The six Congress MPs, who brought a no-confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh government in the Lok Sabha, too pledged their unflinching support for Kiran if he floats a party.
His failure to act swiftly even after the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on 18 February has dampened the enthusiasm of most of these leaders. Only a handful of ministers accompanied Kiran when he submitted his resignation to the Governor. The number further fell after Kiran moved to his private residence in Banjara Hills.
When Kiran held a meeting of students to gather inputs on the new party on 27 February, many of them told him that he should not waste time on this. Presently, only two or three former ministers, such as Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy, Shailajanath and Peethani Satyanarayana, are in touch with Kiran.
Three former ministers, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, T.G. Venkatesh and E. Pratapa Reddy joined Telugu Desam Party on 28 February and made it clear that many more would follow them. Other former ministers Kondru Murali, Manikya Vara Prasad, Mahidhara Reddy and K. Parthasarathi have changed their stand and have decided to remain with the Congress. Among the expelled MPs, Lagadapati Rajagopal has announced his political “sanyas” (retirement) in protest over the division of the state. Others like Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Vundavalli Arun Kumar and former minister Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy are with Kiran, but they too are not sure of his next move.
Kiran is expected to launch his party on 2 March, but there is confusion on the date. He is yet to finalise the name of the new party. Initially, names like “Jai Samaikyandhra Party”, “Samaikyandhra Congress party” and “Jai Samaikyandra Congress”were considered, but now there is an opinion that there is no point in using the word Samaikyandhra (united Andhra), because the state has been officially bifurcated.