Telangana fall-out: Kiran Reddy resigns as Andhra CM, quits Cong

Following weeks-long deliberations and vehement bouts of protest, Congress leader and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy today resigned from the post of the CM and quit the party. The Congress-led UPA had hurriedly passed the Bill that attributes statehood to Telangana on Tuesday evening and it was being speculated that Reddy would quit immediately in retaliation. In fact, Reddy had sat on a dharna in Delhi and sent out feelers that he would quit as the CM in protest three days back when the Telangana Bill reached the Lok Sabha. [caption id=“attachment_1398057” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kiran Kumar Reddy. AFP.[/caption] “I can’t continue. I am resigning from the posts of CM, MLA and membership of the Congress party,” he said while quitting. He lashed out at the entire Congress high command, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  “PM said that his heart was bleeding over disruption in Parliament. But, the misery of Telugu people won’t cause him pain,” he charged. In the press conference, where he announced his resignation, Reddy accused the Congress and the BJP of joining hands to hurt and separate the people of Andhra Pradesh. “Injustice has been done to the people. Division of state won’t help both the regions. This bill was rejected by the Andhra Pradesh assembly. Even the live telecast was stopped. It was undemocratic. A bill rejected the by the assembly has been passed,” he said.  “What kind of democracy is this? Both Congress and BJP joined hands to betray Telugu people. I strongly condemn it,” he added. He alleged that the vote bank politics of the major parties have led to the division of Andhra Pradesh. “For seats and votes Telugu people have been divided. I condemn it,” he told the assembled media. He also attacked the Congress and said that Telangana was created simply for vote bank politics. “Every norm has been violated. The bifurcation has been done in a highly undemocratic manner,” he added. The former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh also declared that he doesn’t care about anything else but the interests of the Telugu people.