Kiran Reddy quashes talks of launching new party

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who rebelled against the Congress high command over the state's bifurcation, today maintained that he has no plans of floating a new political party.

"I have no such thoughts," the Chief Minister told reporters during an informal chat on the occasion of New Year's Day at his camp office this afternoon, putting the strong rumours on the issue to rest.

Speculation had been rife over the past few months that the Chief Minister would walk out of Congress and launch his own political party, banking on his new-found image as a 'champion' of a united Andhra Pradesh.

Ever since the Congress' Central Working Committee adopted a resolution to bifurcate AP and create a new state of Telangana, Kiran had been vehemently opposing it.