Amidst speculations in a section of the media that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy may be replaced with either Marri Sasidhar Reddy or D.Srinivas, Congress leaders from the Telangana region say they do not want another Chief Minister but an announcement granting separate statehood to Telangana.
In a new twist to the ongoing speculation that Mr Reddy will be replaced, Nalgonda MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy said on Monday, “We do not want any replacement of the CM but only a T-state.” He said that if the rumours of a replacement CM are true, it is “not at all good for Telangana.“
Mr Sukhender Reddy said Telangana politicians have waited patiently for a positive signal from the Congress central leadership, but “if they do not announce a separate state, almost all the Congress MPs from the region go their own way. We may join other parties, but we will not remain in the Congress any more.” The MP said he and his colleagues from Telangana were ready to sacrifice their seats, and will not seek re nomination to their seats in the 2014 general election if statehood is granted.
It was reported in these columns earlier that Congress MPs Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy and Suresh Shetkar may join the YSR Congress, while Manda Jagannadham, Ponnam Prabhakar and G.Vivek will join the TRS.
Mr Sukhender Reddy warned that if the party replaces Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy with a leader from the Telangana region, without granting statehood, “I do not think the state government will survive; there will be mass agitations all over the region.” He was also critical of the recent changes in the Union Cabinet which has seen two Cabinet posts, one minister of state with independent charge and four ministers of state, all go to Seemandhra region, and only two MoS given to the Telangana region.
In a related development, Congress MLAs and MLCs from the Telangana region met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday.