Andra CM’s portfolio move ahead of Telangana debate draws ire

Hyderabad: In a clever move, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has wrested control of the crucial legislative affairs ministry from pro-Telangana minister D Sridhar Babu and handed it to staunch loyalist and pro-United Andhra Pradesh minister Shailajanath, evoking strong protest from Telangana supporters.

The sudden move, which left pro-Telangana ministers fuming, came with just one day left for the winter session to resume and the state assembly to debate the draft Telangana state bill.

While Sridhar Babu was a vocal supporter of the division of the state and took an uncompromising stand on introducing the bill in the assembly, Shailajanath sided with the chief minister in opposing division.

While shocked Telangana ministers including K Jana Reddy and Ponnala Lakshmaiah immediately took the issue to the Raj Bhavan and lodged a complaint with the governor ESL Narasimhan against the “undemocratic” behaviour of the chief minister, Congress workers called a strike in Sridhar Babu’s home district Karimnagar on Wednesday.

Sridhar Babu, who was also part of the ministerial delegation to meet the governor, refused to take charge of the commercial taxes department saying he was not consulted his portfolio was changed.

Sridhar Babu had openly clashed with the chief minister on many occasions over the issue of bringing the Telangana bill before the assembly for debate.

While the chief minister and other Telangana opponents tried to delay the winter session of the state assembly last month, Sridhar Babu, as the legislative affairs minister, put his foot down and ensured that the session was convened as per the schedule.

Later, when President Pranab Mukherjee referred the Telangana bill for the view of the assembly, and it was tabled in the House for debate, the chief minister took the stand that the bill was yet to be formally introduced for debate. Sridhar Babu publicly deferred with him saying the bill was introduced and the debate had already begun.

The allocation of the legislative affairs portfolio to Shailajanath has raised serious doubts among Telangana ministers and other supporters of a separate state.

But Kiran Kumar Reddy defended his move saying it was the prerogative of the chief minister to reshuffle portfolios. He said he allocated the portfolio of commercial taxes department to D Sridhar Babu in view of his abilities as the collection of taxes had fallen drastically. “Two years back it was 26 per cent but last year it came down to 15 per cent and this year to 9.5 per cent,” he said.

Reddy said that his focus was on the debate on the draft bill as it would highlight the problems of both the regions on account of bifurcation.

But many ministers from Telangana, including the Union Minister Jaipal Reddy, openly differed with the chief minister.

Jaipal Reddy saw a conspiracy to scuttle the constitutional process of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. But he expressed confidence that such moves will not affect the process as after midnight on January 23, the bill will not be in the hands of the state assembly. Jaipal Reddy said that the Parliament will pass the bill in the first week of February.

State Minister for Panchayat Raj K Jana Reddy described the change of portfolio as an “undemocratic act” and said that the chief minister seems to draw pleasure from such actions.

He urged people to exercise restraint as the draft bill was coming up for debate in the assembly in a couple of days.

Sridhar Babu defended his action of tabling the draft Telangana bill in the assembly saying he had discharged his duties as the minister for legislative affairs.

Former state Congress president D Srinivas also criticised the chief minister’s action.

Government chief whip Gandra Venkatramanna Reddy charged the chief minister with resorting to vindictive measures and psychological war on Telangana. “By changing the portfolios, an attempt was being made to scuttle the Telangana state,” he said.

He demanded the party president Sonia Gandhi to intervene and take action against the chief minister.