Is Ashok Babu, the man leading the APNGOs’ movement for Samaikyandhra, entering politics ? Though the speculation has been rife for some time since the APNGOs went on strike and maintained the tempo for nearly 80 days, an indication to that effect was given in the ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ public meeting in Gudivada of Krishna district on Friday night.
Maintaining that the employees have only paused and not stopped their struggle to have the state united, Ashok said that if needed, he was ready to enter politics. ‘’If people wish, I will enter into politics; not for gaining anything but to cleanse the political system which today reeks of vested interests and opportunism,’’ he said. Starting from ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ public meeting in Hyderabad, the tenor of Ashok’s speeches got changing as the time went by. It attained more political tone, with repeated allegations and criticism of the politicians of different parties. Political observers started saying that the change had given credence to the rumours that Ashok was eyeing the political arena and had the support of none other than chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
However, when contacted, Ashok denied nursing any such ideas. ‘’What I meant in the Gudivada speech a couple of days ago was that present-day political leaders had become unreliable and were least bothered about what people need and of their aspirations. I was merely making a point that if people wanted to I might enter into politics,’’ he said.
