The Coast Guard

The Congress powers that be may have given their nod for the formation of Telangana, but their own CM, Kiran Kumar Reddy, is having none of it, mincing no words while calling for a united Andhra Pradesh. In fact, just a week after the CWC ann­ouncement on July 30, Kiran Kumar called a press conference where he lashed out against the decision.

In the past month, he’s made a “forceful presentation” to the A.K. Antony committee on issues the state’s bif­urcation would give rise to (like water, power, status of Hyderabad etc) and blas­ted the party leadership at the Telugu Language Day celebrations, saying dividing the Telugu people would harm Congress prospects for generations to come. He reiterated this thought while addressing a new batch of trainee IAS officers, saying “politici­ans are accountable to the public...people will expel such leaders”.

If nothing else, the CM’s strong stand has shown a way out for Congress leaders of the Seem­a­n­dhra region, where raging agitations over the last month have left them listless. For Kiran Kumar is sudd­enly now the public face of the Con­g­r­e­ss’s Seemandhra lobby. Mini­s­ters from the two provinces like Kon­dru Murali, Ghanta Srinivasa Rao, S. Sailaja­nath, K. Parth­as­­arathy, Maheedhar Reddy, Thota Narasi­mham, Galla Aruna and A. Ram­a­n­a­­rayan Reddy apart from MPs like Lag­adapati Rajag­opal, Rayapati Sambas­iva Rao and many other MLAs have apparently even been pressurising the CM to float a new party in Seemandhra.

Strong Kiran loyalists like Kamalapu­ram MLA G. Veerasiva Reddy and Raja­h­mundry city MLA R. Suryaprakash Rao have also been issuing statements. “Kiran Kumar is a true leader. He’s had the guts to take on the Congress leadership for its foolish decision,” says Veerasiva. “It is time for Seemandhra Congress leaders to resign and form their own party,” the MLA asserts. Sury­aprakash even has a name ready, the ‘Samaikhya Andhra Indira Congress’.

Of course, there’s more than a hint of desperation in all this. Jailed YSR Cong­ress leader Jaganmohan Reddy’s seven- day fast, which forced officials to shift him to nims Hospital, has upped the party’s image in the region. Unlike Tel­ugu Desam’s Chandrababu Naidu, who is still playing a neutral card while tilting towards the Seemandhra agitation, Jag­an’s made his stand clear. His party is for a united state. “Congress leaders in Ray­alaseema and coastal And­hra fear a complete rout unless dra­stic measures are taken,” says a ruffled Congress MLA.

But not everyone is convinced about Kiran Kumar either. “The man doesn’t have a public image, Kiran is just riding on the wave of an agi­tation...he is too meek to actually come out of the Con­g­r­ess and form a party,” says a coastal And­­hra Congress MLA. Congress leader Tul­asi Reddy, however, feels “we must credit him for his bravery”, saying it takes guts to be in the CM’s chair and yet go against the high command’s decision. A Kiran loyalist is confident “he will resign as CM and set up a new party if the bifurcation happens. It’s the only way Congressmen can contest future polls”.

By now, another theory is also doing the rounds—that it is the Congress itself which was behind Jagan’s fast. TD leaders P. Keshav and Kodela Sivaprasad seem sure of it, saying that anyway the Congress is planning a post-poll alliance with the YSR Congress. “The fact that he was allowed to fast in jail against the rules proves Sonia Gandhi tacitly supp­orted Jagan’s fast,” says Vijayawada TD leader D. Uma­maheswara Rao.

Indeed, the Telugu Desam terms rum­ours around a Kiran party as a Congress plant. “They know they will be wiped out in Seemandhra’s 25 LS and 175 asse­mbly seats because of the T-decision. Our chief Chandrababu Naidu’s padaya­tra and bus yatra have made the Congress even more jittery. This is why the CM is now behaving like an Opposi­tion leader, attacking his own party,” says TD Rajya Sabha member Nama Nageswara Rao.