The Congress High Command is engaged in a vigorous search for a suitable successor to Kiran Kumar Reddy, who had resigned as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh recently, in order to install an interim government in the State at the earliest.
Since there has been overwhelming opposition from all quarters for bringing the State under President Rule, the Congress leadership seemed all set to install a government and hence began a search for a suitable candidate to be appointed as Chief Minister keeping in view the ensuing 2014 elections.
Interestingly, even Congress leaders from Seemandhra region of the State, who till the other day, were engaged in a relentless battle with the High Command protesting against bifurcation of the State, now seemed to have relented and wanted a new government installed instead of President’s Rule.
Thus with pressure mounting from Congress leaders of both Telangana and Seemandhra and also from TRS favoring installation of a new government, the Congress High Command is currently engaged to assess whether Kiran Kumar Reddy’s successor should be from Telangana or Seemandhra region besides deciding on to which powerful community, he or she should belong to.
Minister D.K. Aruna, who is one of the Telangana Congress leaders invited for discussions by the party Central leaders, after meeting AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh told the media that they had firmly opposed imposition of President’s Rule in the State and had also made it clear that they would not have any reservations regarding to which region the new Chief Minister belonged to. All we wanted was that a new government should be installed, she observed.
As part of the ongoing exercise to find a suitable new chief minister for the State, Digvijay Singh had a one-to-one meeting with Union Minister of Tourism K. Chiranjeevi and is understood to have sought suggestions in this stupendous task to select a leader who besides ably administering the State should also help lead the State Congress successfully in the ensuing poll battle. It is also pertinent to note here that Chiranjeevi belongs to the Kapu community with a sizeable vote bank which cannot be ignored.
Thus speculations began that the Congress High Command was trying to woo the Kapus by making Chiranjeevi as next Chief Minister before the 2014 elections in a bid to consolidate its vote bank. The meeting between Digvijay Singh and Chiranjeevi this morning gave credence to these speculations.
Interestingly, APCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana and former minister Kanna Laxminarayana, who also belong to Kapu community, seemed to be also in the race for the Chief Minister’s post. However, as per the current indications, Chiranjeevi seemed to be considered more suitable than the other two. In another surprising development, Killi Kruparani, who is also a Union minister from Seemandhra region, has been invited by AICC president Sonia Gandhi for talks. Kruparani, who is currently in the State visiting various temples received the call and rushing to the national capital to meet Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday. This also triggered speculations whether the AICC president is thinking of making her the next CM of the State. (NSS)