State Congress leaders who met party president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday confirmed that the high command will initiate some steps regarding the Telangana statehood issue and make changes in the party’s state leadership immediately after the Presidential election.
Senior leader and MP Palvai Govardhan Reddy who met the Congress president on Tuesday, told mediapersons outside 10 Janpath that Mrs Gandhi was very concerned about the political situation in AP. “You may expect changes after the Presidential election, including on Telangana,” Mr Govardhan Reddy said. Health minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy, who had been waiting for an appointment with Mrs Gandhi for the past few weeks, finally met her today and explained the situation in the state.
He is believed to have made serious complaints against Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and his style of functioning. He reportedly sought her permission to quit his post, but Mrs Gandhi told him to wait a while. Former minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy said he too was expecting some major changes after the Presidential elections. Though they all said there would be change, none of them could say what the change would be.
In a related development, ministers Anam Ramnarayan Reddy and N. Raghuveera Reddy left for Delhi this evening to “pay a courtesy call”. They are expected to meet Mr Pranab Mukherjee and extend their best wishes. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan also met Mrs Gandhi on Tuesday, ostensibly to update her on the political situation in the state. However, the Governor refused to give details except to say that he had not submitted any report.
He later met the Prime Minister, Mr Mukherjee and Mr Chidambaram. Meanwhile, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy had his own meetings in Hyderabad. He met some ministers over breakfast and reviewed the party’s poor show in the bypolls. The ministers who were put in charge of certain constituencies gave their version of the party’s poor performance. It was observed that several government welfare and development schemes had either not reached the intended beneficiaries or they did not get sufficient publicity to counter the at-tack of the YSR Congress.
The Chief Minister will appoint a 10-member committee, with R&B minister Dharmana Prasad Rao as the convener, to ensure that government schemes get wide publicity and attention in the coming days. The committee has also been entrusted with monitoring the implementation of the schemes.
Meanwhile MP K. Chiranjeevi left for Delhi on Tuesday evening.
Though his trip will be confined to proposing Mr Mukherjee’s name, sources said he will also meet Mrs Gandhi to present his version on the bypoll results. Sources said Mr Chiranjeevi has prepared a report on the results, with the focus on the ‘non-cooperation of Congress leaders and disunity in the party’. Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao also left for Delhi along with Mr Chiranjeevi. Endowments Minister C. Ramachandraiah would join them on Wednesday.