Hyderabad: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday resigned from his post, strongly protesting the passage of Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill in the Lok Sabha.
The bill seeks to divide Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and the residual state of Andhra Pradesh.
The chief minister also announced his resignation from the state assembly and Congress party, with which he was associated throughout his political career.
After addressing a media conference at his camp office, Kumar Reddy drove straight to the Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation to governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. He was accompanied by 15 Congress legislators and eight of the 21 Seemandhra ministers. The governor immediately accepted his resignation but did not make even the customary request to the outgoing chief minister to continue as a caretaker until alternate arrangements are made.
The governor will now send a report to the central government and in all probability the state was heading for President’s rule, sources said.
With the majority of Congress MLAs and ministers from Seemandhra regions not standing with the Chief Minister in quitting the government, it was obvious that he had lost the grip over the party. Galla Aruna Kumari, S. Shailajanath, T.G. Venkatesh, E. Pratap Reddy, Pitani Satyanaryana, Parthasarathi and Ganta Srinivas Rao were among the ministers who resigned along with the chief minister. But many of them were looking towards either Telugu Desam or YSRCP.
State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana, senior ministers A Ramanarayana Reddy, Kanna Lakshminarayana, N Raghuveera Reddy, Vatti Sasantha Kumar, D. Manikya Varaprasad Rao and Kondru Murli Mohan were among those who kept away from the Chief Minister. Botsa declared he would remain in Congress.
Union minister Purandeswari and member of Lok Sabha Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, both from Andhra have also announced their resignations from Congress party. Reddy faxed his resignation to Sonia Gandhi.
The chief minister however remained silent on the question of forming a new party.
“That is not important. I am fighting to keep the state united so that the people don’t suffer,” he said.
“I strongly condemn the division of the state for the sake of a few votes and seats,” he said. He blamed his own Congress party, main opposition BJP and YSR Congress Party for the division of the state.
“If I had kept quiet I could have continued in Congress. But I decided to quit as the future of Telugu people is important for me,” he said.
In an attempt to placate the people of Telangana, Kiran Reddy said, “I respect the sentiments of Telangana people. I am sorry if my struggle to keep the state united has hurt any body,” he said.
Kumar Reddy defended the timing of his decision.
“If I had resigned earlier, the state would have been divided then itself,” he added.
Later Kumar Reddy held a meeting with his supporters to discuss various options including a new party. He has convened another meeting on February 23 for further discussions. One of his supporters, former minister T.G. Venkatesh, said a new party would be launched only if it served the interests of the people.
While celebrations continued in Telangana after the passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha, 13 districts of Seemandhra observed a total strike. However Andhra Pradesh Non Gazetted Officers Association has withdrawn the indefinite strike of government employees in the region.
The chief minister’s resignation came after weeks of speculation about his future. With this move, Kumar Reddy’s three years and five month old stint as the 16th Chief Minister of the state has come to an end.
Kumar Reddy questioned how the Lok Sabha could pass a bill rejected by the state assembly.
“How they can divide the state which was formed on the sacrifice of so many people,” he said.
Saying that Andhra Pradesh was formed for Telugu-speaking people after a long struggle since 1908 and the laying down of lives by thousands of people, he added: “It is painful that such a great state was being divided.”
The chief minister alleged that the central government violated several provisions of the constitution in dividing Andhra Pradesh. “When some members protested the Prime Minister said his heart was bleeding. When their state was divided will the heart of crores [millions] of Telugu people not bleed?” he asked.
Alleging that Congress and the BJP had entered an unholy alliance, Kumar Reddy said that the two parties had wounded the Telugu people.
Kumar Reddy succeeded K. Roshaiah as the Chief Minister and took office on September 10, 2010. He was hand-picked by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi to put an end to the political turmoil and uncertainty which gripped the state following the death of Congress strongman Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy in September 2009 and failure of veteran K. Rosaiah to stem the tide.
A member of dominant Reddy community in Rayala Seema, many in Congress saw a new hope in the young Kiran, who was the Speaker of Assembly at the time.
Kumar Reddy, the son of former minister Amarnath Reddy, was elected to the state assembly in 1989, 1999 and 2004 from Vayalapadu constituency in his home district Chittoor. In 2009 he was elected from Pileru as his previous constituency ceased to exist following the reorganisation of constituencies.
Kumar Reddy has quit at a time when his own political future appears bleak. His failure to stop the bifurcation of the state has resulted many of his loyal supporters deserting him.
With the number of supporters dwindling, there was a question mark on his plan to float a new political party. Close associates of Kiran said that he was unlikely to launch a new party but maintain a low profile.
In his reaction to Kumar Reddy’s resignation, union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that he had no other option but to go.
“He had been opposing the bifurcation of the state from the beginning. Now that the Lok Sabha has passed the bill, he had no option but to resign,” the minister said.
Meanwhile Telugu Desam MLA from Mudugula constituency in Visakhapatnam district Rama Naidu tried to commit self-immolation during a road blockade in protest against the division of the state.
While his supporters were blocking the road and cooking food as mark of protest, he poured kerosene on the body and tried to set himself ablaze.
However, police officers present foiled the attempt.
