HYDERABAD: At the end of the first Congress Coordination Committee meeting on January 5, the picture that emerged was very clear. The party high command does not want any one to emerge as the only leader in the state. It wants the involvement of as many people as possible in running the party and government.
The eight member Congress Committee meeting chaired by AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad also left Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy with no ambiguity that henceforth he would not be solely calling the shots on party matters in the state. He would have to involve everyone, discuss everything, do their bidding, and then if majority of them do not like, dump an idea. It was more or less like clipping his wings.
Azad, after his arrival in Hyderabad, received quite a number of representations from Congress leaders who were sidelined by Kiran Reddy. Some ministers told Azad that Kiran Reddy was not discussing the decisions on policy matters with them while others picked holes in the decisions that he had already taken. Some of the disgruntled leaders are Health Minister DL Ravindra Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.
Though Botcha did not complain against the chief minister since others were doing what he intended to do, there is suspicion among Kiran Reddy’s supporters that it was Bothca who ensured that the coordination committee was constituted by camping at Delhi. Botcha’s supporters said this was his way of hitting out at Kiran Reddy after the latter ordered ACB raids into liquor syndicates keeping in mind Bothca’s interests in liquor business.
For Botcha, it was a mission accomplished. A beaming PCC president, after the coordination committee meeting, said Azad had given valuable suggestions on running the party and government on sound lines. But the actual cause of his happiness was not hard to find. With Azad saying that he alone would be chairing the coordination committee meetings and that they would be held frequently were probably music to the ears of Botcha.