Jagan pokes the Congress

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: Rebel leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy literally mocked at the Congress – the party he left early this month – by publicly parading at least 24 MLAs, four MLCs and an MP at his 48-hour hunger-strike camp on the banks of river Krishna in Vijayawada in the last two days. With this, Jagan sought to prove that it was indeed he who was in control of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh and threw a challenge at the party high command daring it to take action against its members who sided with him. Three MLAs from Praja Rajyam Party and an MLA suspended from the Telugu Desam also stood by Jagan at the so-called Lakshya Deeksha, hunger-strike for farmers. This brazen “show of strength” by Jagan has left his parent party totally shaken. Disarray will only be a mild word to describe the situation in the Congress circles in Hyderabad as the party MLAs so publicly sat with Jagan and spit venom at their own government. In fact, Congress leaders here did not even muster the courage to react to the situation as the number of legislators joining Jagan increased. “The party high command will look into it and take an appropriate decision,” was the only reaction by Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman N Tulasi Reddy. While state Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy termed the Congress MLAs’ participation in the former MP’s fast as “unethical,” former minister Gade Venkat Reddy did not see anything wrong in it. “Jagan was trying to highlight the plight of farmers to the government. The MLAs only extended their solidarity but never said they will leave Congress,” Venkat Reddy said. While the Vijayawada development will not in any way affect the TDP, the PRP is certain to be worried as a few more of its MLAs are tilting towards Jagan. Will the Congress high command display the gall and act against its unruly MLAs is a puzzle for now.

Kiran Kumar Reddy: Driver without the steering in hand

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy may have been seated in the driver’s (Chief Minister) seat but it is the Congress bosses in New Delhi who will actually hold all the controls of his vehicle (Andhra Pradesh government). A clear set of do’s and don’ts has been prescribed for Kiran Kumar to steer the government in a way to resurrect the Congress in the state through strict implementation of the schemes promised in the election manifesto. “It is only a move by the high command to resurrect Congress’ party in the state with trouble lurking in the form of Y S Jagan and Telangana. It is essentially to let Kiran Kumar focus primarily on governance and not let troubles, from any quarter, bog him down,” a top Congress leader and key government functionary maintained. Significantly, state Governor E S L Narasimhan is also being actively involved in the governance to lend stability to government. The Congress high command reportedly issued certain “guidelines” to the Chief Minister to be followed scrupulously. As per the guidelines, the Chief Minister will have to take any major policy decision only in consultation with the Pradesh Congress Committee president. The Chief Minister will have to tour at least two districts every week to improve mass contact and closely monitor implementation of the government programmes. While Kiran Kumar will have to submit a weekly performance report to state Governor Narasimhan and AICC president Sonia Gandhi, the Governor will in turn forward the report to the Union Home Secretary. State Chief Secretary S V Prasad and Director General of Police K Aravinda Rao have reportedly been directed to brief the Governor every week on the government’s performance in general and law and order in particular. Review of law and order by the Governor assumes significance as there is apprehension of trouble by separatist elements after the five-member Justice Srikrishna Committee submits its report to the Centre on the statehood issue. The Chief Minister has also been asked by the high command to have “constant and close co-ordination” with the party’s Manifesto Implementation Committee to ensure effective implementation of the flagship programmes. This makes Kiran Kumar’s task tough as the Congress government could not so far implement the three main promises it made in the 2009 election manifesto: extending free power supply to agriculture sector from seven to nine hours a day, enhancing the Rs 2-a-kg rice quota from 20 to 30 kilos a month to all below poverty line families and uninterrupted power supply to all sectors. While severe funds crunch did not allow the government to enhance the rice quota to 30 kilos a month, the acute power scarcity faced by the state forced it delay implementation of the other two promises. “We have sought Central assistance for the rice scheme but there has been no response from them yet. We could not generate additional electricity in tune with the growing demand because of which the promises related to power may not be kept in the immediate future,” a top government source pointed out. While these may be some worrying factors for the new Chief Minister, he can take comfort in the Congress high command’s assurance on party-related issues: “Look to us for any damage control.” In fact, the Congress high command appointed a six-member party sub-committee to exclusively handle AP affairs. That should make Kiran feel comfortable in the saddle for some time.