Kiran focused on image building - TeluguPeople.com News

HYDERABAD: Like a batsman going for pinch-hitting in the slog overs, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is putting ongoing development schemes on a fast track, launching several others in a hurry and setting tight deadlines for their completion as his innings is drawing to a close.

A former cricketer that he is, Kiran has apparently realized that he needs to accelerate his run rate to shore up his image and emerge as a strong contender for the Chief Minister's post in the next elections, notwithstanding his continued defiance against his party's decision to bifurcate the State.

For a major part of his tenure, Kiran was seen as a lackluster team leader with an air of arrogance and his administration was largely perceived as lethargic and lacking in dynamism and vision.

Of late, the Chief Minister has been showing a resolve for image make-over and to infuse a sense of urgency into the implementation of development programmes and taking up new ones. As a result, the administrative engine has now been put on top gear.

Kiran is personally monitoring the timelines of various schemes and going after the officials to complete his pet projects in a time bound manner. According to sources, Kiran is keen on leaving his stamp on the State administration before his innings comes to an end.

The Chief Minister is keen on grounding some projects proposed by globally renowned companies over the next six months to boost his image. The recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cadbury and Isuzu are seen as steps in this direction and he is pinning hopes on such mega projects.

On a single day, he saw that a MoU is signed with the Cadbury and directed the officials to complete the gas pipe line projects that included globally respected company like the Shell.

The Chief Minister is also getting details about the projects that were proposed in the past but were not followed up in the last few years and is keen on putting them back on the track to get some personal mileage. He has also completed third round of Rachabanda programme, a mass contact programme intended to solve the problems of weaker sections.

The locations of the projects being pursued by him suggest that he is more interested in Seemandhra region than Telangana. Though the ITIR project is coming up in Hyderabad, the credit for following it up goes to IT Minister Ponnala Laxmaiah.

Ironically, Kiran has not made any effort to bring the projects to Telangana like coach factory at Kazipeta, power projects at Ramagundam, fertilizer factory at Godavari Khani and textile projects cotton growing areas.

Clearly, he wants to improve his image in Seemandhra region with a view to reap electoral gains in the elections in the present Andhra Pradesh or in the residual AP. The sources say that Kiran wants to emerge as a strong contender for CM's post in the residual AP and wants to improve his image as performing CM.