Botsa Satyanarayana denies rift, leaders return

[1]

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha and PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana returned from New Delhi on Thursday without meeting the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

The trio’s much-anticipated Delhi visit was confined to meetings with AICC general secretary Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad. While sources close to the three said Ms Gandhi could not meet them since she was not in Delhi on Thursday, many in the party say she would not meet the trio before getting Mr Azad’s report that they resolved their differences.

Trying to send out all the right signals to the party brass, the three Congress leaders had a joint breakfast meeting in Delhi on Thursday and met Mr Azad together before returning.

Refuting media reports, Mr Satyanarayana said there was “no rift” among them. “We are united; there is no truth in reports that the high command has admonished and warned us,” he told the media.

Asked about the controversial transfer of Mr K. Srinivasa Reddy, SIT officer in ACB, purportedly to pacify the liquor syndicates and ease the probe, a furious PCC chief shot back: “I don’t know about the transfer of Srinivasa Reddy. I don’t even know who he is; I just read it (his transfer) in the papers. It is part of the administration, which I don’t deal with.”

“I don’t understand how an officer can retained in the same department after being promoted.”