Kiran Kumar getting distanced from state congress leaders

Kiran Kumar Reddy stands at a crucial point in his political career. Congressmen have openly aired their resentment at his style of functioning. His cabinet colleagues are getting mired in CBI cases, the motive behind which is to target YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

It is no secret that the Congress has still not been able to come to terms with the severe drubbing it received in the June elections, in which it could win only three seats. Of the three it could barely scrape past Konda Surekha in the Parkal constituency. It thinks that by strengthening the hands of the beleaguered Chief Minister, it can pull off a miracle in the forthcoming elections.
The CM's cabinet coleagues including Mopidevi Venkataramana and Dharmana Prasada Rao, both of whom have been charge-sheeted in Vanpic land allotment case, and others—Geeta reddy, Ponnala Laxmiah, Kanna Lakshminarayana and Sabitha Indra Reddy expected Kiran Kumar to stand by them and argue their case before the high command. However, that was not to be. Kiran's cabinet colleageus are now being led to the altar, while the chief minister prefers to look the other way.
Interestingly, several veteran congressmen have criticized the Chief Minister's style of fucntioning and how he has remained aloof and inaccessible. Many of them have publicly slammed the chief minister for his ivory-towered approach, but little seems to have changed about the way Kiran Kumar functions.
Unlike the late YSR or the YSRCP President YS Jaganmohan Reddy, Kiran Kumar lacks mass appeal. The massive publicity blitz in the name of his government seems to have yielded hardly any tangible results. Congressmen are more than aware of his limitations. They know that he is no match to Jagan's charisma and are worried about the prospects of the congress getting wiped out in the 2014 elections at the hands of the YSRCP.

Delhi has thrown its weight behind the beleaguered Chief Minister, but his own party men seem distrustful of him. It may not come as a surprise if some of his own cabinet ministers come out into the open and force the hand of the high command for a change of guard. For state congress leaders, Kiran Kumar Reddy is the proverbial albatross around the party's neck in the state. They know that the party is staring at defeat as support for the YSRCP continues to grow by the day. Congressmen everywhere are seeing traditional vote banks of the party getting fast eroded. Kiran Kumar's political career may well have reached its tipping point.

-observer@sakshipost