The rift between Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha once again come into the open on Thursday.
The Chief Minister had planned to begin his Indiramma Bata in Medak district from October 29 and the Deputy Chief Minister seems to have decided not to associate himself with the ensuing program in his home district.
To discuss his proposed program in Medak district, the Chief Minister telephoned to his Deputy but the latter filed to respond by ignoring the telephone call. As a matter of fact, both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister had earlier attended a function in the Secretariat when Mandali Buddha Prasad, the newly nominated Chairman of the Official Language Commission, assumed office.
APCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana met the Deputy Chief Minister obviously in an attempt to bring a rapprochement between the warring Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. However, it is not known whether he had succeeded in his mission or not. It is also not known whether Rajanarasimha would be taking part in the Chief Minister’s Indiramma Bata progam.
The Deputy Chief Minister is believed to be peeved over the fact that his constituency Andole was not included in the three-day Indiramma Bata program of the Chief Minister. Considering the exclusion of his constituency from the program as a personal affront on him by the Chief Minister, Rajanarasimha has decided to keep away from the program in the district.
Realizing that the absence of the Deputy Chief Minister in the Indiramma Bata programme would send wrong signals to the people, Kiran Kumar Reddy in a damage control move tried to contact Rajanarasimha on phone, but the latter did not respond to his call. Thereupon, the Chief Minister tried to defuse the situation by deputizing the PCC President to talk to the Deputy Chief Minister.
It is an open secret that there was no hunky dory between the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. Rajanarasimha has been nurturing a grouse that he has not been allotted the Home portfolio despite being made the Deputy Chief Minister. During the reshuffle of the cabinet after the induction of erstwhile PRP members C. Ramachandriah and Ganta Srinivasa Rao in the ministry, Rajanarasimha expected that the Home portfolio would be entrusted to him. However, much to his chagrin the coveted Home portfolio continue to remain with Sabita Indra Reddy and thus widened the rift between the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister.
Interestingly, the State government on Thursday withdrew a police case registered against K. Chandrashekar Rao, TRS president, in Medak in connection with the hunger strike launched by him in 2009. It is believed that the withdrawal of the police case was clever move to prevent any disturbance by the TRS cadre during the Chief Minister’s Indiramma Bata program in the district.(NSS).