The Congress party in Andhra Pradesh might be extremely jubilant over the re-entry of former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy into the party, but one wonders whether it will benefit the party in any manner.
In fact, there is a talk that the move will benefit Kiran more than the Congress party.
“He has been out of circulation for four years and he needs some kind of political rehabilitation once again to be in the limelight. So, he grabbed the offer made by the party high command and re-joined the party. He may be given some respectable position in the AICC in New Delhi that befits his stature as former chief minister,” a party leader said.
But what about the Congress party? All said and done, Kiran is not a man of masses, who can excite the people with his rabble rousing speeches and attract them towards the Congress party.
Even when he was the chief minister, he was not so articulate in speaking in Telugu because of his convent educational background.
Secondly, Kiran is also not a leader of the cadres. While his political connections are at high level and superficial, he never had connect with grassroots level party workers. So, one doubts whether his re-entry will excite any party cadre.
“He will be given some position in Delhi and he will spend time there. He will be of no use to the party in the field,” the party leader said.
The Telugu Desam Party, too, has reacted to the development rather non-seriously. Former Congress minister and present TDP spokesperson Dokka Manikya Varaprasad said Kiran’s re-entry might bring an additional vote to the Congress party, but it will not help the party to get even a single seat.
He also alleged that Kiran was one of the richest political leaders in the country and requested the Governor to order a probe into Kiran's alleged corruption.
