New Delhi: The Congress’s high command has damaged the party in state after state, former party chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy said Friday after switching camps to the BJP.
Reddy – whose association with the Congress runs back to the early 50s – said he never envisaged such a day would arrive.
“My father was an MLA four times. I was an MLA four times… My father died very young. The Opposition was ready with a seat for me if I changed parties. But I said I would continue with the Congress,” Reddy said at a media meet.
Reddy accused the Congress of not interacting with the people, and not taking the opinion of state leaders. “This is not a story in one state. It is a story throughout the country. There is an old saying that says, ‘My king is very intelligent. He doesn’t think on his own. He doesn’t listen to anyone’s advice. I think you understood what I meant,’” Reddy said in an apparent jibe at the Gandhis.
The former CM, who joined the BJP Friday in the presence of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, slammed the Congress leadership for wanting the authority to control, but without putting in the hard work or taking responsibility.
They believe they are correct and all others — including the people of India — are wrong, he said Friday, a month after quitting the Congress.
Reddy was the second Congress leader from the South to join the BJP in as many days. Congress veteran A.K. Antony’s son Anil joined the BJP Thursday from Kerala.
Antony welcomed Reddy to the BJP Friday and tweeted: “Glad you have also joined the organization that is working for India’s core national interests and for public interests without prejudice and bias. How many more should say that the emperor has no clothes before the grand royals realize?”
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Kerala chief K. Surendran has said many more Congress leaders would soon switch to his party.
In a state where the BJP hasn’t managed any significant results, Surendran hopes the Christians will vote for the party this time because the community has “demonstrated it has full faith in Modiji’s work”.
Also read: Ex-Andhra CM Kiran Kumar Reddy joins BJP weeks after quitting Congress