Kiran Reddy completes 3 years in office ahead of likely bifurcation

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy will be remembered, among other things, as the last chief minister of the country's fourth largest state, and perhaps also as the first chief minister of the residual Andhra Pradesh if things go his way

Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy completed three years in office on Sunday (November 24), an achievement in itself, at a time the state bifurcation is around the corner.

Reddy will be remembered, among other things, as the last chief minister of the country's fourth largest state, and perhaps also as the first chief minister of the residual Andhra Pradesh if things go his way post bifurcation.

This is a rare opportunity for any politician, and a windfall in the case of Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was considered as a loose wicket when he was made chief minister on November 25, 2010.

No one believed he would last this long in office and also evolve from being a chief minister paratrooped by the Delhi leadership to a level of publicly questioning the party high command on the issue of bifurcation, say political analyst and an independent member of the state legislative council K Nageshwar.

The hectic political and administrative consultations in Delhi point to the likelihood that the state of Andhra Pradesh will cease to exist in a month from now as the UPA government is gearing up to get Parliament nod for the division of the state in early December. The next step after the passage of the Bill would be to set up two governments headed by two chief ministers for the recreated states of Telangana and the residual Andhra Pradesh respectively till the time of elections in May, 2014.

Blot on the political life
However, being remembered as the last chief minister of Andhra Pradesh is a big blot on the political life of someone who belongs to Seemandhra, that too when the people of the region think the bifurcation was against their interests. Kiran Reddy became chief minister at the age of 50.

A recent media campaign launched against Kanna Laxmi Narayana, a senior minister in the present government, who is said to be considered for the post of chief minister of residual Andhra during the intervening period, has raised political speculations that Kiran Reddy is also eying the title of the first chief minister.

During the past three years, the chief minister was able to consolidate his position in the party and the government  by neutralising political adversaries and also successfully projected himself as the lone fighter for the cause of Seemandhra without  sacrificing his position even at this juncture.  

“A significant achievement for him is that there was no mega scam attached to his name during the last three years unlike his predecessors. However, he could have been much more proactive on the issues of governance,” Nageshwar said.

Though Kiran Reddy started several welfare programmes to create an image for himself on the lines of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, they failed to create any impact as there was a large gap in the implementation, according to him.

His three years in office is also marked by the polarisation in society and politics on regional lines.

The 100-day agitation in Seemandhra sparked by the Congress Working Committee (CWC)'s decision on July 30, 2013, in favour of state bifurcation witnessed some bitter political rhetoric between the leaders of the two regions irrespective of political loyalties.

While Kiran Reddy has been trying to create a political capital for the post bifurcation scenario, people of both the sides are unlikely to forget the immediate past that is also marked by economic difficulties.

Low economic growth
Power crisis and other factors had pushed the state to a very low economic growth rate of 5.29 per cent (advance estimates) in 2012-13 from a high of 9.66 per cent in 2010-11.

Industrial output fell to an all-time low at 0.77 per cent from 7.82 per cent in the preceding year primarily on account of severe power shortage during the same period.

In the last couple of years, Kiran Reddy had introduced several welfare schemes, including the 'Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu (training the unemployed youth and the creation of 500,000 new jobs in private and government sectors) to make his mark as chief minister.  

He was particularly successful in neutralising his rivals in the government and the party.

Now, Reddy’s moves are being closely watched in anticipation as to how he would make one last act as the chief minister when the proposed Telangana Bill is sent for the consideration of the state legislative Assembly after it’s approved by the Union Cabinet.