AP CM Kiran Reddy's open revolt against Telangana: Genuine or a ploy?

New Delhi: The Congress high command in New Delhi has one more headache to handle. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is openly questioning the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decision to divide the state. Reddy has been expressing his displeasure over the bifurcation of the state since the CWC decided to create a separate state of Telangana, two months ago.

The Seemandhra region is still in turmoil. All government offices have been shut. Schools and Colleges remain closed. The pro-Telangana leaders allege that the chief minister himself is stoking unrest by extending all kinds of help to anti-Telangana agitators.

The nervous Centre is yet to send a Cabinet note formally initiating the process of the creation of a new state. Insiders say the high command is worried and trying to buy some more time.

With the release of YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy from a jail after 16 months, the prospects of the Congress in Seemandhra look very bleak. The people are blaming the Congress for the mess. The Congress MPs and MLAs are staying away from their constituencies fearing public humiliation.

People close to Kiran Kumar Reddy say that he is genuinely upset over the decision and he is even ready to quit politics. Kiran Kumar Reddy was considered a light weight and an imposed chief minister before the announcement of Telangana state. He is now trying to position himself as the sole protector of united Andhra from the Congress side.

Pro-Telangana leaders are demanding his removal for insubordination. According to the Congress leaders in New Delhi, the party does not want to create one more martyr by acting against him.

But, some political analysts and critics of Kiran Kumar Reddy feel that he does not have the courage to stand up to the high command. They say it is a ploy to gain some sympathy for the local Congress and to delay or scuttle the creation of a new state.

It is a very well known fact that if the Congress does not create Telangana before the next Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, the pro-Telangana party, the TRS led by charismatic K Chandrashekhara Rao will most likely sweep the entire region.

It is not going to help the Congress even in Seemandhra. The Congress is now being seen as a betrayer and it is unlikely to get a respectable number of seats.