One more Congress MLA resigns

A ruling party MLA from chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's home district, Chittoor, resigned on Thursday protesting his continuation as chief minister.

Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, a four-time MLA and a former minister, has been very critical of Kiran's leadership. Reddy recently announced he would resign as MLA if the Congress high command did not to replace the chief minister before December this year.

The sulking MLA said the party prospects in AP had deteriorated because of the poor state of affairs in government under Kiran Kumar Reddy. Besides their old rivalry, denial of Cabinet berth after Kiran became chief minister two years ago further fueled the differences between them, according to political observers.

Ramachandra Reddy, who did not reveal his future political plans, said he would continue in the Congress party. Reddy's resignation comes a day ahead of the three-day Assembly session beginning tomorrow. The government is especially convening the session to discuss and provide legislative guarantees to the budgetary allocation and spending under the SC, ST sub-plan.

Whether the latest resignation of a sitting member from the ruling party stays as an isolated case remains to be seen against the backdrop of recent reports suggesting that some more Congress MLAs from Chittoor and neighbouring districts were expected to desert the ruling party.

Meanwhile, some MLAs loyal to the chief minister flayed Reddy's criticism against their leader. Among other accusations Ramachandra Reddy also alleged that the chief minister's brother was acting as extra constitutional power.

Recently, three congress MLAs, one each from West Godavari, East Godavari and Vizianagaram districts, had submitted their resignations to the Speaker after announcing their decision to join the YSR Congress Party headed by former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy's son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Along with them, about four MLAs from the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had also switched over to Jagan’s party.