With the Left training its guns on the Congress Government in Andhra Pradesh over the police firing incident in Khammam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday spoke to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and expressed regret at the “unfortunate incident.”
“The Prime Minister reiterated the Government’s commitment to redistribute surplus land and fulfil its stated commitments to the rural poor, especially the landless,” PM’s Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru said in a statement. The Chief Minister informed the Prime Minister of the steps taken and of instituting a judicial inquiry into the incident, he said.
Meanwhile, the Congress rejected the demand of the Opposition for the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, even though the party High Command was learnt to be “perturbed” about his style of functioning.
Preceded by YSR’s controversial action against a section of the media and his unsavoury remarks against his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu in the state Assembly recently, the latest incident of police firing has added to the discomfiture of the central leadership. Congress President Sonia Gandhi will “caution” the CM when the latter calls on her on August 2, said sources.
While the central leadership has taken a stern view of the Khammam incident, the party has also grimly noted the “double standard” being played by the Left parties, especially the CPI(M). “You may notice that what the Left is demanding in AP today was exactly what the Opposition parties were demanding in the wake of police firing at Nandigram. This is sheer hypocrisy and double standard on the part of the Left,” said Congress sources.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Sunday directed Director General of Police, Andhra Pradesh and the District Judge Khammam to file reports before the court by Tuesday on the police firing incident. TDP Secretary Prasad had filed a writ petition before the High Court by moving a House motion regard.