By BV Shiva Shankar
HYDERABAD: The final act of the T-drama in the state will possibly be played out today during what could be the last cabinet meeting of the Kiran Kumar Reddy regime, ahead of the government presenting the vote-on-account budget in the state assembly.
With Telangana ministers planning to boycott the meeting in protest against the CM’s anti-T stand, sources said Kiran Kumar could resign either on Wednesday or Thursday, soon after the assembly approves the vote-on-account, during the four-day budget session.
Finance minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy will present the vote-on-account at 10.08 am in the assembly, seeking nod of the House for government expenses for the first six months of the next fiscal year, beginning April 1, leaving the exercise of presenting a full-fledged budget to the new government.
The CM will convene the cabinet meeting at 9 am to take clearance for the vote-on-account. However, in an unprecedented development, all the 14 ministers from Telangana have decided to stay away from the meeting, leaving Kiran Kumar to preside over his ‘Seemandhra cabinet’ comprising 18 ministers.
While the main reason for boycotting the cabinet meeting is to disassociate themselves from the chief minister, who sought rejection of the draft Telangana Bill, a senior T Congress leader said they were also angry at Kiran Kumar for snubbing T ministers during his dharna in New Delhi last week.
“It was unbecoming of the CM to snub the Telangana leaders, including women ministers when they wanted to appeal to him against his dharna in Delhi. How can one associate with such a chief minister?” said Ponnala Lakshmiah, minister for information technology.
Telangana ministers led by deputy chief minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha have also demanded an explanation from the CM in the assembly for moving the anti-Telangana resolution without taking the cabinet into confidence. “The chief minister’s resolution, which he claimed to be the government resolution, was unconstitutional since it was moved without the cabinet’s assent. We will demand his explanation for this move,” said a T minister, indicating that the assembly would be stormy on Monday.
Meanwhile, with Kiran Kumar’s positioning himself as the Seemandhra crusader, his close confidantes predicted that he could resign towards the end of the budget session. “The CM has said he would resign once the Telangana Bill comes to Parliament. We are hearing that the Centre would table the Bill in Rajya Sabha on Monday. As Kiran Kumar is committed to the cause of Samaikyandhra, he may quit any moment,” said Pitani Satyanarayana, minister for social welfare.
While Telangana and Seemandhra ministers locked horns ahead of the budget session, political analysts said leaders were only looking to get some political mileage . “With the announcement of elections a few days away, the CM’s resignation and Telangana ministers boycotting the cabinet meeting are mere posturing, aimed at gaining maximum electoral gains,” said an analyst.
The assembly will take a day’s break on Tuesday after the presentation of vote-on-account on Monday.
Courtesy: Times of India