Congress is falling apart in AP, Telangana
A war of words has ensued between the leaders of the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
The ruling Congress’ plans are unravelling in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It failed to install mega-star and Union Minister of State Chiranjeevi as the last Chief Minister, and to convince the Telangana Rashtra Samithi to merge with the Congress. Finally, it ended up imposing President’s Rule in a state that it rules itself. None of its ministers, both at the Centre and the state, are happy with this decision.
Things have not been going the Congress’ way ever since Parliament passed the Telangana Bill. Congress president Sonia Gandhi brought in the party’s top leaders to ensure it gains politically in both Telangana and Seemandhra.
All India Congress Committee sources told The Sunday Guardian that Sonia Gandhi was dead against imposing the President’s Rule, but finally had to give in. As soon as Parliament passed the bill, incumbent Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned, and insisted that he should not be made the caretaker CM, because he had plans to float a new party by the first week of March.
While exploring the possibility of forming an al- ternative government, the Congress high command zeroed in on Chiranjeevi, who belongs to the Kapu caste, which is dominant in coastal Andhra and parts of Rayalaseema. The party thought his charisma would help win seats in Seemandhra, where it faces a tough fight.
Chiranjeevi agreed, and even invited his close friends to his swearing in ceremony. However, a sudden revolt by Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana and state Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana spiked the plan.
The Congress suffered a major setback in Telangana, too. The party had made a serious effort to persuade the TRS to merge with it. Sources say TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao demanded that in exchange for the merger, he be made CM of united AP first and of Telangana later. The Congress was not willing to do this.
Rao’s son, TRS MLA K.T. Rama Rao, told The Sunday Guardian on Friday: “We will take the final decision on this issue on 3 March. A majority of our leaders are against the merger.”
A war of words has ensued between the leaders of the Congress and the TRS. On Thursday, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said that “if the TRS does not merge with the Congress, it will end up like the Aam Aadmi Party, a minor force”. Ramesh even called Rao “a feudal leader who runs TRS in a dictatorial style”. Rao responded that “Jairam Ramesh is a base-less leader who cannot even get elected as village sarpanch. He has no business to criticise me or my party.”
Another reason for tensions between the parties is the poaching of expelled TRS leader Vijayashanthi and TRS MLA G. Aravind Reddy.
“If the Congress behaves like this, we are capable of teaching it a lesson,” threatened senior TRS leader T. Harish Rao.
All this has dampened the enthusiasm of Telangana Congress leaders.
“The joy of achieving Telangana state is clouded by these developments. We don’t know whether we will go with TRS or alone,” senior Telangana minister K. Jana Reddy told The Sunday Guardian.