Even though the supporters of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy were repeatedly asserting, after their visits to Delhi, that change of guard in the State was not there at all, intense speculation continued in the Congress party circles about the possibility of ‘total cleansing’ and ‘major changes’ in the leadership of both the Government and the Congress Party. There is an expectation that soon after the Presidential election, there are bound to be major changes in the State, probably including change in the Government.
Party circles say that the High Command was totally disillusioned with the party’s debacle in the recent 18 Assembly and one Lok Sabha seats, in spite of hectic campaigning by the Chief Minister, AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ministers, MPs and MLAs of the party, including Chiranjeevi who had merged his PRP with the Congress. The massive victory registered by the YSRCP candidates even when it’s president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was in jail and was unable to campaign, has come as a shock to the party leadership. The party winning the two seats – Narasapuram and Ramachandrapuram—has come only as a saving grace.
The Chief Minister and the PCC President Botcha Satyanarayana have given their respective reasoning to the High command on the debacle of the party candidates in the by-elections. The main point made by the Chief Minister was that the ‘sympathy’ wave in favor of the YSRCP following the arrest of Jagan by the CBI, was the reason for the party’s defeat. The PCC chief was stated to have informed the High Command that factors like the spiraling prices of essential commodities and petrol price hike have contributed for the party’s defeat.
Rajya Sabha member K Chiranjeevi, however, came out with a statement in unambiguous terms, even while the Chief Minister and PCC chief were in Delhi, that total lack of co-ordination between the top leaders was the main reason for the ruling party’s ignominious performance in the by-elections. He also made it clear that the state party leadership had not taken any effective steps to ensure integration of the erstwhile PRP cadre with the Congress party and this has also led to the defeat of the Congress. Chiranjeevi is expected to meet party President Sonia Gandhi and submit his report, in a day or two.
Party circles feel that Chiranjeevi’s report to the High Command, coupled with the views expressed by some of the senior leaders of the party on the by-election results and their criticism of the Chief Minister, would be taken due note by the party leaders at Delhi, and this might make the high command think in terms of affecting major changes including shifting the Chief Minister and the PCC chief. One factor, however, that might force the High command against changing the Chief Minister, is that the apprehension that the opposition might take advantage of any such move, and the frequent changes in the leadership might use it as weapon during the election campaign, saying that the party lacked proper leaders and that all the successive Chief Ministers were unable to curb corruption, etc. This factor might force the high command to allow Kiran Kumar Reddy to continue, but give him a free hand to affect major changes in the Ministry, by removing all those who were freely speaking against the Government and its policies. How the high command would act after the Presidential election is to seen, and there is no doubt that the speculation in the media would continue till then. (NSS)