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The meeting between the Union Defence Minister, Mr A.K. Antony, and film star and President of the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), Chiranjeevi, has set the pace for hectic political activity in the coming weeks in Andhra Pradesh, with the Budget session coming up later this month.
The move aimed at roping in the PRP into the State Government and forge ties that will help the Congress (I), which may be reduced to a minority if Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, former Kadapa Member of Parliament and son of late Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, managed to pull more than 25 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) out.
On the other hand, the Government led by Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy is bracing up to face challenges of a potential no-confidence motion from the opposition, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and the lurking trouble from the Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS), which can join forces with any party to push its agenda for a separate Telangana State.
In this backdrop, the upcoming Budget session of the State Legislative Assembly beginning February 17 assumes significance. The ruling dispensation has to work out well-thought out moves to confront big problems in store.
Mr Antony dashed to Hyderabad on Monday and met the ‘megastar' Chiranjeevi at the latter's residence, extending an invitation from the All India Congress Committee President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, for discussion.
The PRP, which has around 18 MLAs, can provide the breather for the Congress (I), which has 155 in the 294-member AP Assembly, unless there is a mass exodus to the proposed political party being formed by Mr Jaganmohan Reddy.
The Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy-Government has left enough room for getting the party berths in the Cabinet.
Mr Reddy, pitchforked into the CM's position with the task of diminishing Mr Jagan Reddy's impact, has begun to push the pet projects of YSR. Though he started with the focus on Arogyasri (health for poor) and now Rachabanda (providing instant solution to people's problems in villages through meetings), he is confronting problems at several places.
Meanwhile, the Mr K. Chandrasekhara Rao-led TRS seems to be focussing on the upcoming Budget session both at the State and Centre to push its agenda for statehood for Telangana.
The Osmania University, the heart of the agitation in Hyderabad, though kept under heavy security, is again being readied for action, ahead of annual examinations. The joint action committee has given a call for renewed agitations from February 20.
The TDP Chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, facing stiff internal pressures from the MLAs from Telangana, has taken to problems of farmers, weavers, microfinace victims and other mass issues to gain public support, while trying to maintain his stand that both Telangana and coastal Andhra are equally important for his party.
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