JOIN USCongress affairs in the state took a nasty turn on Thursday with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy allegedly deciding to keep off the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session while all six Seemandhra MPs were denied passes to attend the session in Delhi.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Botsa Satyanarayana, who was already in Delhi, said he was not sure whether the chief minister would participate in the AICC session, summoned to appoint Rahul Gandhi the party’s mascot and the prime ministerial candidate.
Not only the chief minister, but also six MPs – Sabbam Hari, Vundavalli Arun Kumar, Lagadapati Rajagopal, G V Harsha Kumar, Sai Pratap and Rayapati Sambashiv Rao – who moved an adjournment motion against the Manmohan Singh government in the last session, were denied the AICC passes and asked not to attend.
The Congress high command’s move has shocked the MPs and several state ministers, who had opposed the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, towing the chief minister’s line. “It is very undemocratic to silence us this way,” said a senior Seemandhra minister.
Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal said the AICC pass was his right. “I will go to the AICC to exercise my right,” he said.
Meanwhile, minister Pitani Satyanarayana, a close associate of the chief minister, said perhaps Reddy wanted to address the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on the crucial Telangana issue and hence kept off the AICC session.