The last chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, joined the BJP on Friday, April 7, in the presence of some senior leaders of the party in New Delhi. The development came just a few days after he resigned from the Congress party.
In 2014, as the process to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh began, Kiran Kumar Reddy was the leader of a delegation of Congress MLAs from the Seemandhra and Rayalaseema regions who were opposed to the move. The MLAs believed that, as chief minister, Reddy would be able to pull off a last-minute miracle to stop the bifurcation process.
Reddy, who played first-class cricket as a batsman, had memorably declared, “No match is over until the last ball is bowled.” To the dismay of his followers, after the last ball was bowled, Andhra Pradesh was divided and the batsman walked back to the pavilion with his head hung low. Later, many senior leaders of the Congress felt that they were unable to get a good bargain for the residual Andhra Pradesh state because they were under the impression that Kiran Kumar Reddy, in his capacity as the chief minister, would influence the Congress Working Committee to reverse its stand on the bifurcation.
Kiran Kumar Reddy’s family has been in the Congress for the last seven decades. He was elected to the legislative assembly four times – three times from the Vayalapadu constituency and from Pileru in 2009.
After failing to reverse the bifurcation of the state in 2014, Reddy resigned from the Congress and launched his own political party called Jai Samaikyandhra Party (Jai United Andhra Party) in March 2014 – when the bifurcation was all but a matter of time. The party was humiliated in the 2014 assembly and general elections and could not win even a single seat. It lost deposits in almost all the seats. The party was dissolved in 2018 and Reddy rejoined the Congress, where he remained on the sidelines.
After almost eight-nine years of political inactivity, he has now joined the BJP with the intention to revive his fortunes. On Friday, Reddy said that he found no reason to continue his long association with the Congress since the party was not learning from its mistakes in spite of losing power in one state after another. Like every other politician that joins the BJP, he praised the party for growing from strength to strength and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. Taking a jibe at the Congress leadership, Reddy said, “There is an old saying – my king is very intelligent, he doesn’t think on his own, and he doesn’t listen to anyone’s advice.”
#WATCH | “I had never imagined that I’ll have to leave Congress…There is a saying- ‘My king is very intelligent, he doesn’t think on his own, doesn’t listens to anyone’s advice’, “says former Congress leader Kiran Kumar Reddy on joining BJP in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/8s43F09WxK
— ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2023
While his comments on the Congress party may ring true – certainly for the Andhra Pradesh unit, his choice to join the BJP is a surprising one. As a loyalist of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, he had the option to join the YSR Congress party. But it seems that there is no love lost between him and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR’s son and the present chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. After YSR’s tragic death in 2009, Jagan made all efforts to become the next chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. The Congress high command was reluctant and gave the baton to Kiran Kumar Reddy, after a brief period during which the senior leader K. Rosaiah was given the reins.
Jagan eventually left the party and began building the YSR Congress. Kiran Kumar Reddy tried to keep the flock together under the Congress banner. This might have put an end to his entry into YSR Congress.
His own brother N. Kishore Kumar Reddy joined the Telugu Desham Party in 2017. This came after his failure at the hustings when he contested from the Pileru seat representing the Jai Samaikyandra Party. Kishore Kumar Reddy was nominated as the Chairman of the AP Housing Development Corporation under the TDP government and is now confident of getting the TDP ticket to contest from Pileru. It is unlikely that the brothers will be at loggerheads, as they complement each other in politics. Reddy might have felt that there isn’t enough room in TDP – and there is also the possibility that there could be an electoral arrangement between the BJP and TDP in the 2024 elections. Since his brother is keen on getting elected, it might not be a surprise if Kiran Kumar Reddy aspires for a gubernatorial position with the blessings of the BJP.
Though the BJP claims that his presence in the party will enhance the party’s prospects in the state, the reality is different. Without any active role for almost a decade, throwing his weight independently of his brother would be an uphill task for Reddy. It could be one more big name joining the BJP without having anything solid on the ground.