Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday was dismissive of the party that former Congress MP Jagan Mohan Reddy is all set to launch shortly. He claimed that it will not affect the prospects of the Congress in any way.
Talking to reporters in the capital, Mr Reddy said, “Many people left the Congress in the past. It will not affect the party in the state.” But when asked as to who the deputy chief minister would be, the chief minister said, “Appropriate decision will be taken at appropriate time.”
The front-runner for the deputy chief minister’s post is current major industries minister Geetha Reddy, who hails from Telangana and is also a dalit. This supposed move by the Congress is perceived as a strategic game-plan to assuage the feelings of the Telangana people.
As for the post of the Speaker, the buzz is that the current deputy Speaker Nadendla Manohar may be elevated to the Speaker’s chair.
During the course of the day, the former cricketer called on many Congress leaders that include Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Veerappa Moily, Digvijay Singh, Sharad Pawar and K. Keshav Rao. With Sonia, the chief minister is understood to have discussed the rebellion that took place in the aftermath of portfolio allocation-that was put down by the high command with an iron-hand. Mr Patel was also present during the meeting which lasted for nearly 45 minutes.
Prior to the meeting with Mrs Sonia, Mr Kiran and Mr Patel had a one-on-one meeting. This is the first visit of Kiran Kumar Reddy to the capital after taking over the reins of the state.
Incidentally, the secretary of the Srikrishna Commission, Mr Duggal called on Kiran Kumar Reddy at Andhra Bhavan, in the capital. The meeting lasted for a few minutes.