Two more T parties emerging ?
Hyderabad: The politics of Telangana are beginning to take a new shape as two new parties are in the process of taking shape. One is an off-shoot of the ruling congress and another appears to be getting built as a breakaway faction of the opposition Telugu Desham Party.
The strange thing about these two parties that are emerging as new entities is that they are directly going to pose a huge challenge to all the present leading parties in the Telangana region.
While the TRS is going to take a challenge to its exclusivity both the ruling congress and opposition TDP are going to see drastic erosion of their base in the Telangana region which has 119 Assembly seats and 17 seats in the Lok Sabha spread over the ten districts of T-region including the state capital city of Hyderabad.
The pendency in resolving the issue of Telangana state has dented the image of the ruling congress. The TDP although has no role whatsoever in the formation of Telangana state has however landed itself in a mess due to the bias of its leader's two-eyed policy.
It is too early to predict how these new outfits would emerge and be able to pose a challenge but what is inevitable is the imminent damage to the existing players who have lost all credibility for their opportunistic politics.
Telangana politics is going to witness major changes in the coming days. Though many of the existing pro- Telangana parties are busy with strategies and counter-strategies, several new players are waiting to enter the fray.
A major player is going to be the State Infrastructure and Ports Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who represents Nalgonda assembly seat. Venkat Reddy is the only minister from Telangana who has not resumed his duties in Secretariat after submitting his resignation from the assembly on July 4th. All other 12 ministers from the region, who too quit their assembly seats, returned to duties after Aug 16th.
Often branded as 'Covert' of YS Jagan' in the Cabinet, Venkat Reddy is rumoured to be facing threat to his ministerial post in the next cabinet reshuffle. Known for his aggressive style of functioning, 49 year old Venkat Reddy, a three time MLA, and currently a minister, is now busy chalking out his plans to float a new political party, which would champion the cause of Telangana.
The party is likely to be named as 'Telangana Congress' or 'Rajiv Congress' as per the availability of the title, the minister's close aides claimed. Well, this may not be a major surprise for many who know Venkat Reddy an his move of floating a new party would certainly impact the course of politics in the region.
If he quits and forms a new party, certainly two more MPs ' Gutta Sukhender Reddy (Nalgonda) and Venkat Reddy's younger brother Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy (Bhongir) and one MLA Lingaiah (Nakerekal)' may join him.
This development will not only be limited to Nalgonda district, but would have its consequences on the region's politics. We need to carefully watch which way the trends will be moving and who is going to join hands with whom. But, before picturing the overall impact of this new party, let us take a closer look at Venkat Reddy's background and his political compulsions.
Interestingly, Venkat Reddy never lost sleep over Telangana, nor he is a die hard supporter of separate statehood for the region. Since his first election in 1999, he remained a staunch loyalist of late YSR. In fact, he secured the Congress ticket in 1999, just because of his closeness to YSR even when several other veterans in the party opposed him.
He is one of the young leaders groomed by late YSR. Between 1999 and 2004, Venkat Reddy faced several invitations from TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, to join his party and lead the Telangana movement in Nalgonda district. But, Venkat Reddy never yielded to them and fought hard to keep his flock together.
What kept him pushing during the period was his enhanced financial power, thanks to the patronage of late YSR. As Venkat Reddy was much junior to two senior ministers K Jana Reddy and R Damodar Reddy, he had to bid his time for right opportunity in the first term of YSR tenure. But, YSR handsomely rewarded Venkat Reddy by awarding him huge contracts of Thotapally Reservoir Project, through Jalayagnam program. However, the MLA let out the same to sub-contractors subsequently.
His is the only Telangana firm that bagged nearly 1000 crores worth tenders in the Jalayagnam works. Though Jana Reddy and Damodar Reddy dominated the district politics by remaining the vocal supporters of Telangana cause, Venkat Reddy silently strengthened his muscle and money power, because of a benevolent CM YSR at the helm.
That is how Venkat Reddy could secure Congress ticket from Bhongir Lok Sabha seat to his 43year old younger brother Rajagopal Reddy in 2009.
'Eleven years ago, nobody knew Komatireddy Venkat Reddy in the district, but today, he is a major force and nothing moves without his nod in Nalgonda,' commented a senior Congress former MLA.
Today, Venkat Reddy commands at least one Congress MP ' his brother and one Congress MLA ' Lingaiah from Nakerekal. But, there is an imminent threat to Venkat Reddy's ministerial post in the next round of cabinet reshuffle, which Kiran Kumar Reddy has been planning for sometime.
As weaker sections have been asking for more representation in the Cabinet, one or two Reddy ministers might be axed and being a junior Venkat Reddy would be the first target. Keeping in mind what is coming to him, Venkat Reddy already began alternate arrangements.
He criticized other ministers from Telangana for going back to duties and announced that he would not continue in power if T-state is not declared by the end of September. That means, Venkat Reddy might put in his papers by then.
There are others who know Venkat Reddy, say that all his talk of floating a new party might be a blackmailing tactic on his part to escape imminent sacking from the Cabinet. But, those who know him very well say that Venkat Reddy is not a fool to sail with Congress, if the party would not concede Telangana, in view of strong pro-Telangana sentiment among people.
Chances of his forming a new party are very bright. So, now we shall try to analyze the impact of Venkat Reddy's new political party. It is no secret that Venkat Reddy does not jell well with TRS Chief K Chandra sekhar Rao.
Several times Venkat Reddy criticised the way of Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC) convener Prof Kodandaram being too close to KCR and that he would not go by the dictates of the latter. If that is the repulsion factor between Venkat Reddy and KCR, we can easily understand this new party would be a forum to many Telangana forces who are not comfortable with KCR.
Komatireddy Venkat Reddy may attract more Congressmen from the region as he could muster enough resources to run a new party. Already, it is said that Jupalli Krishna Rao, is quite keen on going with either Nagam Janardhan Reddy or Komatireddy depending on the mood of the people.
Splinter groups in congress have several leaders like T Jeevan Reddy, Indrakaran Reddy, Chinna Reddy, former Speaker Suresh Reddy, Jalagam Venkat Rao, Ratnakar Rao, most of them might join hands with Komatireddy Venkat Reddy who are basically inclined towards Jagan but not daring enough to openly support him.
As Jagan has not taken a stand in favor of Telangana, these leaders, who were once strong supporters of YSR, would find it difficult to go with Kadapa MP. Venkat Reddy is known to be very close to Jagan, but it is too early to say how close that political closeness would be.
On the other hand, the moves of the likes of Nagam Janardhan Reddy and his three MLAs are not clear, it appears they may go in a different way ' by floating a body which can attract more TDP leaders from Telangana region. In fact, Nagam too is in a dilemma on which way to go.
Although, he and his TDP rebel group comprising of senior legislators like former union minister Venugopalachary, former deputy speaker Harishwar Reddy and another fire brand Jogu Ramanna have already submitted their resignations from the state assembly, it is still not clear as to how they would proceed further.
Nagam, Venu, Harishwar are known for their anti-congress stand. Despite that it was speculated that Nagam & Co wanted to go with YSR Congress, if Jagan says 'Jai Telangana'. But, that has not happened at the first plenary of the new party on July 8. Since that has not happened, it appears Nagam and his three MLA friends have decided to go alone in Telangana.
They are looking up for a strong platform to sustain their activity, but they are definitely averse to joining TRS and working under the leadership of KCR, because of his unpredictable behavior and proclivity towards congress. Besides, that these leaders consider themselves above KCR in the past political set-up that prevailed during Chandra Babu's rein.
Now, Nagam to his surprise is finding some more friends from Telangana TDP MLAs forum, who are increasingly becoming uncomfortable with the wavering style of Chandrababu Naidu.
Although, Chandra Babu has so far dragged on the matters by putting Errabelli Dayakar Rao in front, it appears that the support for T-TDP forum is fast evaporating and there is considerable discontentment among the first time MLAs.
A sizeable chunk of TDP MLAs from Telangana are appearing to be ready to break ranks and come out of the Telugu Desham Party if Nagam and his three MLAs are willing to form a separate political party, which appears to be certain at the moment.
In such a case, there may be two more new political parties that would exclusively champion the cause of separate Telangana. Let's wait for the next moves of Komatireddy Venkat Reddy first since Nagam Janardhan Reddy appears all set to hijack the TDP at any cost.
News Posted: 3 September, 2011
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