Ministers and MLAs from Telangana are on a collision course with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy for the “unilateral and unconstitutional” manner in which he was trying to push the resolution rejecting the bifurcation Bill in the Assembly.
On a day of high drama marked by the demonstration by Telangana Ministers in the well of the Assembly, a series of meetings were held under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha and Minister K. Jana Reddy when they resolved to obstruct the proceedings till the notice was withdrawn.
Proceedings commenced on Monday with the Ministers meeting the Speaker N. Manohar and Council Chairman A. Chakrapani appealing them not to consider the notice given by the Chief Minister without the consent of the Telangana Ministers or MLAs. They said that was an individual opinion, not the collective decision of the Council of Ministers.
The Deputy CM took an aggressive posture when he reportedly commented that Mr. Kiran Reddy ought to have resigned and championed the cause of united State.
The Telangana Ministers, at one point, contemplated on approaching Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to lodge a complaint against the Chief Minister. But they were counselled by senior leaders to observe restraint as the issue could send wrong signals to the party leadership. Former president of APCC D. Srinivas, however, called on the Governor to brief him about the developments in the Legislature.
Minister D. Sridhar Babu, whose resignation from the Ministry is yet to be accepted, said the unprecedented protest staged by them showed that they lost confidence in the Chief Minister. Government Chief Whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy wanted Mr. Kiran Reddy to unconditionally withdraw his notice.
