It should not be long before it becomes clear if Andhra Pradesh under chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy will experience old politics in a new way or a new politics altogether in a state whose relative political weight for the Congress is possibly greater than any other in the country. The motions which have been gone through suggest the former. But the idiom that will eventually be adopted is likely to be determined by the magnitude of the challenge Mr Reddy faces on the ground, in the wake of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy quitting the Congress and driven by the nature of the difficulties posed by the report of the Srikrishna Commission on the Telangana question expected later this month. Mr Kiran Reddy made the appropriate noises when his name was officially announced as Congress leader to replace K. Rosiah. As is customary in the Congress, he made the pilgrimage to the AICC leadership in New Delhi to seek guidance on the composition of his Cabinet. What has followed is neither unexpected nor unexceptional. There appear to be few surprises in the council of ministers he brought into being on Wednesday. The traditional regional balance — 60 per cent ministers from the Andhra region and 40 per cent from Telangana — has been kept in view. The caste equation has naturally also been adhered to. The chief minister needs such factors within control in order to put his best foot forward in next year’s local elections, besides meeting other contingencies of a political nature.
All things considered, however, who can gainsay that politics in the state will continue to depend to an appreciable extent on the aftereffects of a big oak falling? A year ago, the tragic loss of YSR was deeply felt by the Congress. But few might have then bet that the aftershocks of his demise would continue to be felt for such a protracted period. The Congress leadership is doubtless cognisant of the ground realities in the backdrop of the Jagan revolt. That is why the party’s overall approach has been calm, rather than peremptory or haughty, after YSR’s son and widow parted ways with the Congress on a fairly dramatic note with Mr Jagan Reddy unleashing on Mrs Sonia Gandhi a long, accusatory letter as his adieu line. How the young Jagan constructs his post-Congress life and politics will naturally be watched with interest in Congress circles as well as by other parties. There will be many who might be hoping that the thin Congress majority collapses, leading to fresh Assembly elections next year. It is not inconceivable that the support of Praja Rajyam to the Congress may not be total if the Jagan camp has made inroads into Chiranjeevi’s party. The chief minister will have to work hard to provide insulation for eventualities such as these.
The problems that the Srikrishna report might bring will clearly not affect the Congress alone, and it is possible to see lineups emerging that are not evident today. Mr Jagan Reddy too must contend with this reality. But it is Mr Kiran Reddy, now in the driver’s seat, who will have to do the talking, and find the right voice for the task. It has been seen in crunch situations in Andhra Pradesh that regional sentiment tends to take precedence over the ways employed by the Congress, a hoary national entity with a perspective that does not necessarily privilege circumstances in a given state. The party might therefore do well to keep in mind that all politics are local in the final analysis. To the extent the chief minister can show this on the ground, he may continue to hold ground.