CM Kiran bowled out in last ball

Hyderabad: The last ball seems to have been bowled by the Congress high command when AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi reportedly told Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy that there was nothing that could be done with regard to division of the state.

Despite two rounds of meetings which lasted a total of 45 minutes during which Kiran reportedly told Rahul Gandhi that the state should not be divided and that the decision taken by the party high command was a historical blunder. Kiran was also understood to have said that that if the process was not stopped, Congress could forget to win any seat in the state. The Chief Minister also pointed out that the Centre did not involve the stakeholders and it was unfair that the state was being divided just because one political party had demanded it.

The Chief Minister also told him that no amount of package and an assurance to extend assistance to build a new capital would compensate for the loss the residuary state would suffer after division of the state. But Rahul Gandhi according to sources told Kiran that the decision to bifurcate the state cannot be revoked.

Disappointed by the response he got from Rahul Gandhi, Kiran left for Hyderabad. Interestingly, he did not go to AP Bhavan during this visit. Contrary to expectations, he did not seek appointment with AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

According to Minister Pithani Satyanarayana and MLA K Subbarayudu who accompanied the Chief Minister, AICC general secretary in-charge of state affairs Digvijay Singh was also present when Kiran met Rahul Gandhi and discussed the T issue.

Defending his party President YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s remarks on Speaker, he said, “Nadendla Manohar has been visiting states that have followed the federal spirit while division took place in their respective regions. There was a unanimous resolution in the Assembly which was sent to the centre which in turn has sent a draft bill that was discussed before the bifurcation took place.