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Rosaiah cracks the whip, pulls up Ministers

Hyderabad, 11 February 2010: Anguished by the threats issued by some of his own party leaders to bring down the government, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah reportedly pulled up several Ministers for failing to come to his rescue.At least 11 Ministers, who attended a preparatory meeting held by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah for the ensuing budget session were believed to have been asked whether it was not their duty to refute such controversial statements.

He is understood to have specifically pointed out the reported remarks made by former Minister R. Damodar Reddy that leaders from Telangana would not hesitate to bring down the government. “All of you should have condemned the statement on your own without waiting for me to express my anguish,” Mr. Rosaiah was quoted as telling the Ministers in the presence of senior bureaucrats.

Sources said the Chief Minister remarked that President’s Rule would be inevitable if leaders continued to create hurdles in smooth running of the government. “I have nothing to lose. You all will be big losers if President’s rule is imposed here,” he is believed to have remarked. Mr. Rosaiah made these observations after Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy expressed doubts about smooth conduct of the coming Assembly session.

In the meantime, the central leadership appears to have taken serious view of the repeated defiance by a section of the party legislators. The AICC general secretary, M. Veerappa Moily, reportedly telephoned APCC chief D. Srinivas and conveyed the central leadership’s displeasure over the legislators’ threat of boycotting the budget session. He reportedly conveyed high command’s disapproval of the statements made by former Ministers – R. Damodar Reddy and T. Jeevan Reddy – threatening to stay away from the Assembly if the terms of reference of Srikrishna Committee were against the Telangana region.

Talking to reporters at Gandhi Bhavan, Mr. Srinivas urged party cadres to observe restraint and avoid making provocative statements. He opined that there was no need for public posturing when Centre was going ahead with its task after making December 9 statement on statehood.