Kiran isolated, Anam to the fore

• Senior ministers meet and decide to send Botcha to Delhi with the mission to Save Andhra Pradesh, Save Congress
• They express anguish at CM’s defiance of high command
• Majority of the ministers were unhappy over CM’s functioning
• Anam takes pot shots at Naidu, Jagan for taking a U-turn on bifurcation

It is learnt that the Congress high command has taken serious note of the open defiance of the Chief Minister and the statements he had made at his recent press conferences

Hyderabad: The political scenario in the state appears to be changing very fast. Since Monday night, the state ministers have been holding meetings to work out strategy to see that the image of the party does not take a beating following the defiance of the party high command by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

On Monday, nine ministers from Seemandhra region including Anam Ramanarayan Reddy, Botcha Satyanarayana, Dokka Manikya Varaprasad, C Ramachandraiah, Vatti Vasantakumar, M Maheedhar Reddy, N Raghuveera Reddy and P Balaraju as well as Union tourism for minister Chiranjeevi discussed the political situation in the state and decided to send Botcha to New Delhi to plead with the high command to send an official committee consisting of ministers to the state to study the ground realities and address the apprehensions of the Seemandhra people as well of those from Telangana region.

They also decided to approach the high command with the slogan, ‘Save Andhra Pradesh, Save Congress’. It also appealed to the APNGOs to call off their agitation. The ministers feel that while they should try to convince the high command to address the issues that had arisen in the Seemandhra region after the decision of the Congress Working Committee to bifurcate the state, they should also ensure that the party leaders did not target the high command for the decision to divide the state.

They expressed anguish that while opposition parties were attacking the Congress party, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy too has been making strong remarks against the high command by saying that CWC resolution was not rock addict. It is learnt that the Congress high command has taken serious note of the open defiance of the Chief Minister and the statements he had made at his recent press conferences. Hence it is decided to set the house in order. The series of meetings that took place since Monday are said to be part of that exercise.

The interesting part of the Monday’s meeting was that the Seemandhra ministers supported the decision of the CWC to divide the state and said that the people of that region were becoming restive and hence the centre should intervene in the matter. The meeting authorised Botcha to meet the leaders of the high command and also asked Chiranjeevi to meet Sonia Gandhi and explain the situation in the state to her.

Soon after that AICC in-charge of state affairs Digvijay Singh in Delhi told media that he and the Antony committee too would soon visit the state. He, however, did not announce any dates for the proposed visit. On the other hand the cabinet note was also being postponed.

The ministers did not involve the Chief Minister in the meetings they held since Monday night but Anam told media that he would meet Kiran and apprise him of the developments and decisions taken at the meeting and would urge him also to plead with the high command to send an official team of ministers to the state.

However, this sudden development is being seen as a move to project either Anam or Botcha as successors in case the high command decides to change Kiran. That is the reason why Anam has been speaking about the aspirations and anguish of people in T region. In fact, it is said that the meeting was convened because of the initiative taken by Botcha and Anam.On the other hand, Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao held a meeting with education minister S Sailajanath and Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal.Talking to media Anam took pot shots at TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jaganmohan Reddy. He said while Naidu has been taking up yatras without clarifying if he supported United Andhra or not, Jagan has been taking many U turns.