Written off as a lightweight two years ago, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is on a roll—wearing the skipper’s cap with aplomb as he steers the Congress ship to the coast, all the while fighting headwinds in the shape of Jagan Mohan Reddy and the Telangana flag-bearers.
Eyes firmly on general elections hardly a year away, Kiran has been announcing populist schemes left, right and centre, travelling around the state to publicise them.
To show that he means business and who is boss, the chief minister scrapped Rajasekhara Reddy’s decision to allot mines and lands to private companies, in which the late chief minister’s family members allegedly owned stakes. Kiran’s move to allot Bayyaram iron mines to the state-run Vizag Steel Plant and scrapping allotment of 10,760 acres to Brahmani Industries, owned by former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, are all indicators of a steely resolve.
Though separatist entities in the state decried the move to allot Bayyaram mines in Telangana to Vizag Steel Plant in Seemandhra, Kiran refused to buckle under pressure, his stand being that he allocated natural resources to a public sector company and not to a private party as was done during YSR’s regime.
The picture was very different two years ago when Kiran was appointed chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Several Congress leaders questioned the high command’s decision to opt for a leader who had never held a ministerial berth. The prediction was that Kiran would not last more than a year.
Kiran not only proved his critics wrong but also established himself as an effective leader, successfully dealing with the Jagan factor in Seemandhra and T-sentiment in Telangana, which had been threatening the Congress’ electoral prospects in the state.
A former first-class cricketer, the chief minister is playing the game safe to rescue his team from a possible debacle in the 2014 big fight.
And he is succeeding. The Congress’ landslide victory in the just-concluded cooperative polls revived the flagging morale of Congress cadres, who had been disenchanted following the party’s rout in bypolls held for 18 Assembly segments.
Kiran emerged even stronger after the no-confidence motion, moved by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on March 15, was defeated. With principal Opposition Telugu Desam remaining neutral and the MIM abstaining from voting, Kiran comfortably sailed through the second no-trust motion brought against him.
The ongoing CBI probe into the assets case against Jagan Mohan Reddy and naming of some of his Cabinet colleagues in the chargesheet were other bolstering factors.
Realising that Kiran was a force to be reckoned with, many of his detractors are now trying to mend fences with him. For instance, Telangana votary and one time foe in the party former minister R Damodar Reddy, who used to fire salvos at the chief minister over the Telangana issue, is now heaping encomiums on him.
Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy, a vociferous critic of the chief minister, too seems to be falling in line to make peace with Kiran. Ravindra Reddy, who reportedly extensively lobbied to replace Kiran with some other leader, recently stated that he would continue to be chief minister till 2014 polls.
Interestingly, even PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana, who has a running feud with Kiran, mended fences with him. The state Congress boss, who used to use every occasion to corner the chief minister, is busy following Kiran on his whirlwind tours undertaken to publicise welfare schemes.
The chief minister is justifiably satisfied and it was evident when he recently said: “I was greeted by empty coffers when I assumed office. The state was facing separatist agitations. Threats from within the party tried to destabilise the government. But, I have successfully overcome those difficulties and restored the shaky economic condition of the state.”
The canny politician has even managed to use the acute power crisis in the state to his advantage. As part of his many populist schemes, Kiran is now planning to launch Indiramma Deepam to tide over the power shortage. Under the proposed scheme, solar panels would be supplied to the people on subsidy to generate power.
The Sunday Standard
