Kiran may do a Diggy

Reportedly mulling political sanyas, for now

Some Ministers like TG Venkatesh, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Erasu Pratap Reddy and K Parthasarathi and MPs like Lagadapati have been pinning great hopes on him to launch new party

• After Bill passage, people may see him merely as enacting Delhi script
• Despite his outbursts at Sonia & PM, Digvijay defends CM to the hilt
• Digvijay was made general secretary post-bifurcation of MP; Kiran may also get similar sop
• He is meeting leaders of Seemandhra tomorrow to disclose his plans

Hyderabad: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar is unlikely to either quit from his post or float a new party. Instead, he may opt to go into political hibernation for sometime after the process of bifurcation is over.

According to some ministers close to him, Kiran has convened a meeting of Seemandhra leaders on Sunday and would give clarity to them on his future action plan. But, according to the indications available so far, Kiran will lead a huge rally at Ramleela Maidan in New Delhi to express his anguish and anger over the manner in which the Centre is bifurcating the State in contravention of norms and Constitutional procedures.

Sources say the statement of Kiran on Thursday that resignation was his last option and that all was not over yet is a clear indication that he is not inclined to resign now. He also indicated that he would wait till February 21 before taking a final decision. By that time, however, everything would be over and Parliament would have passed the Bill. Then there would be no point floating a new party. Even Ministers like Kasu Krishna Reddy, C Ramachandraiah, Botcha Satyanarayana etc are not in favour of his resignation. However, this has now put ministers like T G Venkatesh, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Erasu Pratap Reddy and K Parthasarathi and also some MPs like Lagadapati in a fix. Giving credence to this talk, Kasu Krishna Reddy said on Friday that resignations were not their priority. They want to keep the State united and still feel that the process would stop at some stage.

Sources say that Kiran may choose the Delhi route and may be appointed as AICC general secretary. It may be mentioned here that the AICC General Secretary in-charge of State Affairs, Digvijay Singh, was also given party post after Madhya Pradesh was divided.

The reason for backtracking from his earlier stand, sources say, is because the CM camp fears that the passage of the Bill in Parliament would make people think that the Seemandhra leaders led by Kiran are not serious and are only enacting the script authored by New Delhi.