In normal circumstances, a meeting between a Chief Minister and a Rajya Sabha member, especially when they belong to the same party, would not have raised many eyebrows. However, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy's hour-long meeting with Rajya Sabha member Renuka Chowdhary at her residence on Sunday assumed significance in the backdrop of the political atmosphere prevalent in the state Congress.
Though Ms Chowdhary described the meeting as “routine and personal”, party sources said that Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy called on her to establish a good rapport with AICC leaders, particularly those who were close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. When asked if the high command was contemplating a change in the government, Ms Chowdhary told media persons, “He (the Chief Minister) is doing a good job. There is no need for any change. The high command is not for any change now.”
However, political pundits said that Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy’s efforts to establish a rapport with the national leaders of the party come in the backdrop of some state Congress leaders being seen in Delhi with noticeable regularity, to campaign against him. These leaders’ main complaint was that Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy did not take everyone into confidence and took major decisions on his own.
Elsewhere, minister Galla Aruna Kumari, along with her industrialist son Galla Jaydev, met Rajya Sabha member K. Chiranjeevi at his residence on Sunday morning. According to sources, Ms Aruna Kumari requested Mr Chiranjeevi to use his good offices to ensure her son got the Congress ticket for the forthcoming Tirupati Assembly bypoll. The Tirupati seat was vacated by Mr Chiranjeevi after he was elevated to the Rajya Sabha.
The mother and son duo pointed out to Mr Chiranjeevi that the chances of the Congress winning the seat would increase if Mr Jaydev was given the ticket. The minister and her son had earlier met several leaders, including the CM, the PCC chief and AICC leaders with the request. Congress sources said that many leaders, including the Chief Minister, favoured fielding former MLA M. Venkata Ramana as the party nominee.
In another significant development, YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy called on his close relative and actor Mohan Babu at his residence. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and his wife Bharati Reddy went to see his cousin Veronica, who recently gave birth to twins. Veronica is married to Mohan Babu’s son, Vishnuvardhan Babu.