Trouble is brewing for chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in his native Chittoor district. Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, whose Punganur constituency is close to Kiran Reddy’s Pileru, quit the membership of the Assembly on Thursday to wage an all-out war against him who is his arch rival.
Among Kiran Reddy’s other political adversaries in the district is former TTD chairman and Kapu leader DK Adikeshavulu Naidu. There are a few MLAs who are not very happy under Kiran Kumar Reddy’s dispensation but are not coming out openly.
Rivalry between the families of Peddireddy and and Kiran is decades old. Both leaders used to have business rivalry in the past when the TDP was in power. They used to have business interests in Bangalore.
The rivalry began during the time of Kiran Kumar Reddy’s father Amarnath Reddy. There was enmity between him and Peddireddy Thimma Reddy, brother of Peddireddy Lakshma Reddy whose son is Ramachandra Reddy.
Peddiredy’s family used to wield influence in Pileru and Kiran’s in Vayalpadu. By 2009, there was a rejig of constituencies. Peddireddy moved to Punganur and Kiran to Pileru. Vayalpadu disappeared as a constituency and some villages in it were clubbed with the Chandragiri constituency.
Ramachandra Reddy publicly vowed to see the political end of Kiran Kumar Reddy. When MLC elections were slated in 2011, Peddireddy backed a candidate put up by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy more to embarrass Kiran Reddy than to help Jagan Mohan Reddy. In the end, Jagan’s candidate Desai Tippa Reddy won the election (Local Authorities Constituency).
Kiran Reddy has to reckon with former TTD chairman DK Adikeshavulu Naidu, a Kapu leader, from the district, also. The rivalry has been quite old between Kiran’s father and Adikeshavulu Naidu.
Naidu is a sole operator. He defied TDP’s whip (he was TDP MP from Chittoor) and voted in favour of the civil nuclear bill in Parliament in 2008. (His vote was declared invalid later). In a gesture of gratitude the Congress made him TTD chairman. Both Peddiredy and Adikeshavulu Naidu are friends because of their common enmity with Kiran Kumar Reddy.
Gangadhar Nellore MLA G Kuthuhalamma’s loyalty to Kiran Kumar Reddy is always suspect though she has not come out openly against him.
Then there is Former MLA from Thabalapalli Kalicherla Prabhakar Reddy who has joined the YSR Congress in frustration over the Congress ignoring him. He has a good rapport with Peddireddy.
Though two MLAs Shajahan Basha (Madanapalle) and B Ravi Kumar (Puthalapattu) initially showed symptoms of defecting to the Jagan camp, Kiran Kumar Reddy managed to keep them on his side.
When there was a by-election in Tirupati in June this year after sitting MLA Chiranjeevi vacated the seat, Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy was abroad though his confidant Venkataramana was the Congress candidate in the fray.