Hyderabad: The reluctance of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to reveal his future plans has angered some Seemandhra Congress leaders. Some of them are preparing to leave the party. Others still hope that the Chief Minister will start his own political party soon.
All Reddy will say is that the ministers and MLAs should decide their future course of action after January 23, the deadline for the state Assembly to retu-rn its opinion on the Telangana Bill to the President.
A Seemandhra Congress leader expressed the dilemma of his colleagues when he said, “The Chief Minister did not reveal his futu-re course of action, but he wants us to follow his direction. At the last minute if he says that he has no plans to leave the Congress, then what will be our political future?”
Former minister and senior MLA J.C. Diwakar Reddy seems to have tried many times to get the Chief Minister reveal his plans but in vain. Now he thinks that it would be pointless to wait any more and is looking to join some other party.
Ministers Erasu Pratapa Reddy, T.G. Venkatesh and Ganta Srinivasa Rao have decided to join the Telugu Desam. Their entry into the TD is almost confirmed.
Seemandhra Congress MP Lagadapati Raja-gopal had already announced his decision to retire from politics, if the state was divided.
Another MP, Ananta Venkatram Reddy, who is also for a united state, said he will rem-ain in the Congress and contest from the Congress in the forthcoming general election.
“In a democracy, sometimes we will do wrong things and sometimes the pa-rty will do. I am opp-osing the state’s division but not the Congr-ess party. I am against moving a no-confidence motion against our own government, so I did not sign the papers,” the Anantapur MP said.
A Seemandhra minister pointed out that the Chief Minister might be taking his decision too late. “After all the MLAs and ministers have left the Cong-ress, then what is the use if the Chief Mini-ster announces the launch of a political party at the last minute?” he queried.
The Chief Minister does not seem to be making any effort to convince deserting Congressmen that they sho-uld not leave the party or about his launching of a new party.
Except for four or five Seemandhra ministers, all others are expected to remain in the Congress. Minister Kondru Murali had announced that he will contest fr-om the Congress in the next general election. His reasoning is that the Congress has 25 per cent of votes and if they get another five or six per cent, they will have a chance of winning.
