Congress all set for eclipse in Seemandhra

Hyderabad: A season of political migration appears to be on cards with a large number of Congress leaders in Seemandhra region preparing to leave the ruling party in droves as the endgame on Telangana is nearing.

For many sitting Congress MPs and legislators, the writing on the wall is clear. A Congress ticket cannot ensure them re-election in the 2014 polls. There is a growing realization that sooner they jump the sinking ship, the better it would be for their political future.

The brazenness with which these Seemandhra leaders, led by none other than Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, have been questioning the sagacity of the Centre in dividing Andhra Pradesh has obviously angered the high command which has decided crack whip on such rebels.

What is worse, some of these rebels have openly accused Sonia of dividing Telugu people only to make her son Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister.

The high command's anger was reflected in the announcement of Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana that the party leaders who were criticizing the Congress high command with an intention to defect to other parties would have to face the axe soon.

'Action will be taken against the defiant party leaders, whatever may be their position. Indiscipline in the party will not be tolerated at any cost. This is not my statement. It has come from the high command itself,' he said, speaking to media at Gandhi Bhavan.

The PCC chief also warned the Seemandhra leaders against opposing the high command's decision on the State bifurcation, while participating in the discussion on draft Telangana bill in the Assembly.

'All Congress MLAs are free to express their views when the draft Telangana Bill gets introduced in the Assembly. But they should not question the high command's decision. Otherwise, they would have to face disciplinary action,' he said.

However, no amount of threats or warnings from the high command or Botsa is going to have any impact on the Seemandhra leaders, as they know nobody can save the party in their region in the next elections, as the division of Andhra Pradesh has already been put on a fast track.

Sensing an imminent doom for the party, the elected representatives of Congress are virtually running helter-skelter to save their skin.

When PCC Chief issued a stern warning that those who want to quit the party were free to do so, everyone knew whom he was targeting. It is an open secret that it was a veiled threat to none other than the Chief Minister.

A rebellious Kiran is leading a sizeable chunk of ministers and legislators who are not comfortable with the bifurcation of the State.He has been openly taking on the party high command on the division issue for quite some time and even went to the extent of dubbing the split of Andhra Pradesh as anti-national.

Unnerved by its own Chief Minister's defiance, the Congress top brass has explored the possibility of replacing Kiran with some other pliable leader from Seemandhra. But, the problem is it is not so easy to find a replacement.

Moreover, a large number of legislators too may follow Kiran and leave the Congress which is widely seen as a sinking ship in Seemandhra.

Among them is the former Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao who is set to quit Congress and join YSR Congress soon. Only a few days ago, another former Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana too joined Jagan and so did P Vishawaroop. And the list seems to be growing by the day.

The Congress leaders in Seemandhra find it hard to back their high command's decision to form Telangana in their own constituencies.

Against this backdrop, the arm-twisting tactics of Botsa may not work as the rebel ministers and MLAs are certain to jump the ship when the Telangana Bill comes up before the Assembly early next month. Botsa talked of identifying close to 30-50 legislators who are likely to switch sides. The fact is that this number may be higher.

It is apparent that Botsa was issuing these warnings at the behest of the Congress high command, which is keen on keeping its flock together both in Seemandhra and Telangana.

But, it is also equally clear that in the given circumstances it is very difficult to show the doors to Kiran and his coterie of ministers and MLAs, unless the high command wants to sacrifice its own government. That is quite unlikely.