Did Kiran played a wrong ball?
Hyderabad : Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has committed a costly mistake by stripping Civil Supplies Minister D Sridhar Babu of his additional portfolio of Legislative Affairs.
The change has come just two days before the resumption of the Assembly session to take up the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill, 2013, for the formation of Telangana State.
The portfolio has now been allocated to School Education Minister S Sailajanath, a trusted lieutenant of Kiran and staunch protagonist of Samaikyandhra, who had publicly vowed to stall the Telangana bill at any cost.
Though the Chief Minister enjoys full powers under the Article 164 (1) of the Constitution to appoint his Cabinet colleagues and allocate them portfolios, the latest development to divest Sridhar Babu of his Legislative Affairs portfolio has come as a shocker to the Telangana leaders, who were anyway suspecting some foul play by Kiran Reddy to scuttle the discussion on the Bill.
Sridhar Babu, who belongs to Manthani assembly seat from Karimnagar district is a vocal supporter of Telangana state and played a role in stalling prorogue of the Assembly last month, when Kiran wanted to delay the debate on the Bill.
Once considered a staunch loyalist of Kiran, the minister later fell apart from his leader ever since the Union Cabinet approved the Telangana bill and he started championing the Telangana cause.
CM's move to strip Sridhar Babu of Legislative Affairs portfolio may prove costly for him Sridhar Babu was also instrumental in the Assembly taking up the Telangana Bill as soon as it reached from the President last month, much to the resistance from the Chief Minister and his Seemandhra Cabinet colleagues.
Speaker Nadendla Manohar had to take up the Bill, only after Sridhar Babu signaled him to take it up at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting before the session.
Now Kiran wants to control the debate on the Telangana bill in the special session which may last till January 23. For this, he wants to have his trusted man as the Legislative Affairs minister, who is the communication channel between the treasury benches (government) and the Speaker in the Assembly.
There are two ways in which the Legislative Affairs minister can influence the debate on the Telangana bill. One, he can ask the Speaker to put each clause in the bill for voting and record the findings, and two, he can even move a resolution to send the bill to back the President seeking some clarifications or asking for more time to debate on the same.
There is also speculation that Shailajanth, who is also the convenor of Seemandhra ministers and legislators' forum, would move a resolution demanding that the Centre keep the State united. The minister would also play a role in advising the Speaker to adjourn the House whenever it suits the Chief Minister.
Such is the importance of the role of the Legislative Affairs Minister that Kiran has brought in a hardcore Seemandhra leader into the post. But, this move is sure to prove to be costly to the Chief Minister as there will be open rebellion against him from the Telangana ministers, who have already lodged a complaint against him before Governor Narasimhan on Wednesday.
If Kiran is seen as a stumbling block to the smooth passage of the Telangana Bill, the Congress high command may even be forced to ease him out of the CM post.
As Sailajanath is a known opponent of Telangana, people of the region too may suspect Kiran to be sabotaging the process. If that happens, there will be bigger backlash from people of Telangana.
News Posted: 2 January, 2014
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