Rivalry to the fore- It’s Balaraju Vs Ganta

Visakhapatnam: The rivalry between minister for tribal welfare P. Balaraju and minister for infrastructure and ports Ganta Srinivasa Rao came to the fore once again on Friday when Balaraju skipped the third phase of Rachchabanda programme at Chodavaram in the district, addressed by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Balaraju, who allegedly supported bifurcation of state, deliberately skipped the Rachchabanda programme citing that he was not invited and so was unaware of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s presence at the Rachchabanda.

However, officials claimed that the minister was informed in advance. Sources said that the Chief Minister’s preference to Ganta over Balaraju was the reason for the minister skipping Kiran Kumar Reddy’s programmes in Visakhapatnam districts.

Interestingly on November 7, both ministers held review meetings with district officials separately in the city on the Rachchabanda programme. But, Balaraju skipped the programme, where Kiran Kumar Reddy stated that for him united Andhra Pradesh was more important than the CM’s post, Ganta hailed the CM as a Samaikyandhra champion.

It may recalled that the rift brewing between Balaraju and Ganta surfaced over holding the one-day international match between India and West Indies scheduled to be played in the city on November 24. While Ganta wrote to BCCI to shift the venue as united Andhra agitation gained momentum, Balaraju was of the view that sports should not be embroiled in a state issue.

Sources said that Balaraju would abide by the Congress leadership’s decision on the issue of division of state, while Ganta had found fault with T-decision and claiming  to be a integrationist in the region to gain  public support.