NEW DELHI: The BJP’s Mission South ahead of the 2024 general elections got another push on Friday when the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and veteran Congress leader N Kiran Kumar Reddy joined the saffron brigade. Kiran Kumar, 64, was the last CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh. He is considered one of the most influential leaders of the Reddy community. Politically, the Reddy community has been very prominent in State politics as 10 out of 16 chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh had been Reddys. Kiran Kumar is expected to consolidate BJP’s electoral position among the Reddys.
Kiran Kumar joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi (who belongs to Karnataka), Karnataka BJP in-charge Arun Singh, party’s national media in-charge MP Anil Baluni and National president of BJP OBC Morcha Dr K Laxman, day after veteran Congress leader and former defence minister AK Antony’s son Anil K Antony, joined the BJP here on Thursday.
Welcoming him into the party, Anil Baluni said that Kiran Kumar, in addition to being an experienced politician, has served as the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and was also a four-time MLA.
After joining the saffron party, ahead of polls in Karnataka and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Kiran Kumar said that he had never imagined that he would quit the Congress party after remaining associated with it for a long time.
Recalling his association with the grand old party, he said that his family has been with the party since 1952 with both his father Amarnath Reddy and himself serving as four-time MLAs. He also lashed out at Congress. “It is now unfortunate to see as to what has happened to Congress in State after State because of imprudent decisions of its high command,” he said.
Taking a jibe at the Congress leadership, he said: “They (who are at the helm of affairs in Congress) want only authority. They don’t know who should be assigned with what responsibility in the State.”
Indirectly referring to Rahul Gandhi and other top Congress leaders, he said: “They don’t interact with people. They don’t take opinions from the leaders. They don’t take the people’s verdict seriously. They don’t do course correction.”
“These are just a few among many reasons that made me leave the party,” he added.In an apparent reference to Gandhi family’s influence within the party, he said: “Theirs is the rule of an ‘intelligent’ king who neither thinks on his own nor listens to anybody’s advice. They want authority to control but they don’t want to work hard. They don’t want responsibilities”. Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to eradicate corruption, he said that he knew Modi’s stand against corruption from the time the former was the CM of Gujarat.
‘Important leader from south’
The BJP leaders, including Pralhad Joshi, described Kiran Kumar as an ‘important leader from south India’ and said that his induction will certainly strengthen the BJP in Andhra Pradesh.
Joshi said that Kiran Kumar, who has also been a good cricketer, he opened his innings in the Congress and now he has come to BJP to starting a new inning to help the party in nation building.
In the last few years, as many nine prominent Congress leaders joined the BJP starting with Himanta Biswa Sarma in 2015 and Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2020.
If party sources are to be believed, more than half a dozen senior Congress leaders from southern State are likely to change their loyalties to the saffron brigade in the coming days.