CM, not the King of Good Times

Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy might have won the confidence of ministers during the no-trust vote. However, the truth is the CM doesn't enjoy popularity amongst his own partymen.

Looks like the Good Times have ended for the chief minister after he chose to hike the power tariff in the state. This comes at a season where heat is at its peak in the state. Also, in the run up to the 2014 elections, the last thing the party needs is such bad publicity for the party.

None, including Congressmen is too happy with the state government's decision to increase rates for power usage. Several Congress party leaders have openly expressed their disappointment over CM's unilateral decision.

Right from Chiranjeevi and Ramachandraiah to Shabbir Ali and JC Diwakar Reddy—majority of the party members have strongly opposed the power tariff hike.

Endowments minister C Ramachandraiah said that it was improper on part of the Chief minister to take a unilateral decision on such an important issue. Criticizing the CM, the minister said that Kiran Reddy's decisions would bring a great loss to the party and the government. "The power tariff would affect the local body elections," he added.

Stating that the hike should have been first discussed in the party, he questioned the  Electricity Regulatory Committee's power tariff hike announcement without the knowledge of government.

Panchayat Raj minister Jana Reddy to has expressed shock over the hike in power charges. He said that  Electricity Regulatory Committee's proposals would be discussed in the Cabinet on April 4 and 5. The hike should not burden the public in any way, he maintained.

Former minister and MLC Shabbir Ali was echoed the same opinion. He reminded the government that the Congress party came to power in 2004 with the promise of nominal power package to the public.

He said that the power tariff hike decision was a sensitive issue and CM should not have taken an independent decision over it. The MLC also said that he would discuss with the CM if the hike issue would be debated during the Coordination Committee meeting.

Former minister JC Diwakar Reddy admitted that the increase in power tariff would damage Congress fortunes. He said that the hike in power charges is a huge burden on people. He observed that the hike issue will be a huge blow to the party's image. Stating that any government should work for the welfare of its people, JC asked the government to revise the hike. It may be recalled that union minister, Chiranjeevi wrote a letter to the AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad complaining about the power tariff hike.

However, Kundru Murali and a few other leaders backed Kiran Reddy who is facing stiff criticism from the opposition parties. Murali also objected to the criticisms raised by Chiranjeevi and his disciple Ramachandraiah. He said it was only a proposal by the Electricity Regulatory Commission  and recalled that  the CM had announced long back that it would be reviewed.

-Siva@ Sakshipost