'Rebel' Congress MPs to join Kiran's party? - Times of India

HYDERABAD: The six Seemandhra Congress MPs who served notice for no-confidence motion against the UPA regime are on their way to becoming founder members of the political party to be floated by CM Kiran Kumar Reddy. Jolted by information to this effect, the Congress high command is rushing AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh to Hyderabad on Thursday with the specific mission of gathering info on Kiran's political moves.

Given the cold war between the CM and Delhi, it is not clear whether Kiran woul d make himself available for the AICC point man. "The CM was denied appointment with party chief Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on several occasions," said a CM aide, perhaps laying the ground for Kiran to play truant when Digvijay comes calling.

"The high command is convinced that Kiran, as a prelude to launching his party, orchestrated the no-confidence move through the six MPs. They want to make the announcement of their new party a sensational event enough to attract national attention. They have succeeded in it by serving the no-confidence notice against the UPA government," a senior Congress leader confided to TOI.

Led by Lagadapati Rajagopal< /a>, all the signatories of the no-confidence motion, Vundavalli Arun Kumar, A Saipratap, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, GV Harsha Kumar and Sabbam Hari are slated to be the founding members of the new party. Others likely to join the new party are ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao, TG Venkatesh, Erasu Pratap Reddy, Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy and Pitani Satyanarayana.

In the meantime, many in the state party think that Digvijay Singh's visit to Hyderabad after a long gap would not yield any result in a hostile situation where the gap between the party and chief minister Kiran has become unbridgeable.