Hyderabad, January 28: After sparring around for a couple of weeks to gauge their respective strengths and weaknesses, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and the fiery ex-lawmaker from Kadapa, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, finally appear to be bracing for a final showdown if one were to go by the missiles fired by their respective lieutenants in the past couple of days.
When Jagan drew first blood in New Delhi early this month stating that the Kiran Reddy government was surviving at his mercy, the chief minister seemed to be on the defensive but in the past week, he has come out with a flurry of punches against former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s son, challenging him to bring down the government.
Since then, the two have been firing salvoes from the shoulders of their associates, with the Kiran Reddy group taunting Jagan to prove his strength by moving a no-confidence motion against the government. This was promptly retaliated by the Jagan camp followers who said the government should table a confidence motion in the State Assembly to prove that it enjoyed the support of the entire Congress contingent in the House.
Though Jagan had on more than one occasion reiterated that he did not intend to bring down the Congress government in the state even though he had the wherewithal for it, the former lawmaker is reportedly peeved by the open challenge thrown by Kiran Reddy. It, however, remains to be seen whether the Jagan camp which enjoys the support of about 30 MLAs including 25 from the ruling party, will pick up the gauntlet thrown by Kiran Reddy since the arithmetic doesn’t seem to be working in its favour. Despite taunts by Congress leaders and indeed the chief minister himself to resign and contest again, none of the MLAs supporting Jagan have taken the extreme step. And till they do so, there is no need for Kiran Reddy to seek a confidence vote as demanded by the Jagan camp. But Jagan, on the other hand, will have to make a decisive move and this is where he probably expects some kind of help from the opposition, particularly the Telugu Desam Party.
Yes, TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu did make a bold political statement recently that his party was not averse to tabling a no-confidence motion against the Congress government. But the master game-player that he is, Naidu must surely be aware that any such move which can result in mid-term polls would only mean loss of public sympathy since the people are fed up by the frequent by-elections necessitated by repeated resignation of lawmakers. Moreover, it could result in a vote bank shift to Jagan in Seemandhra and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana.
In the given situation, Kiran Reddy, who has so far been seen as an ineffective leader without a mass base, may have played an ace. As a former speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, he also knows the provisions of the anti-defection law inside out, which he put to good use during the resignation drama by the Congress MLAs on the contentious Telangana issue. For Jagan, it is a catch-22 situation. If he precipitates the matter, he may not have the strength to bring down the government, and if he delays action, he stands the ignominy of being labelled a paper tiger.
–Agencies–