BJP announced its fifth list on Sunday, and one name that made heads turn is former Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy.
He has been fielded from Rajampeta parliamentary constituency. He will be taking on sitting YSRCP MP Mitun Reddy in the high-pitched poll battle. Now the big question is, ‘Will AP people forgive Kiran Kumar Reddy?’and whether he will be able to redeem himself.
Kiran Kumar Reddy was the last Chief Minister of erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh and was leading the state when the Congress-led UPA Government divided the state to deliver Telangana. He had revolted against Congress High Command, even defying Sonia Gandhi to stop state bifurcation, but failed in his attempts. As a result, while Congress won the Telangana people’s hearts, it completely lost Andhra Pradesh and is still being seen as a villain by AP people. The impact of state bifurcation was so harsh on Congress that the party went into the wilderness and put an end to many Congress leaders’ careers.
Later, in the changed circumstances, Kiran Kumar Reddy shifted their loyalties to the BJP, though he hailed from a staunch Congress family. Criticizing Congress High Command for making wrong decisions, Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed his confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Though Kiran Kumar Reddy joined the BJP, he has been keeping a low profile despite being a former CM. But now he is back in the thick of action as the Rajampet Loksabha segment BJP candidate.
With BJP, TDP, and Janasena coming together, a neck-to-neck fight is expected in the General Elections. But the big question is, will people see Kiran Kumar Reddy as a CM who was part of AP bifurcation or a leader who fought against it? It has been ten years since AP got bifurcated, but AP people’s memories are still afresh with its consequences. If Kiran Kumar Reddy has to redeem himself and get a new lease of life, then his first job is to make people forget bitter memories of the past and promise them a new future.
