Congress leadership summons Kiran Kumar Reddy to Delhi

Hyderabad: Amid speculations of a possible leadership change in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Kira Kumar Reddy on Saturday rushed to Delhi on summons from the Congress leadership.

The chief minister cancelled all his scheduled programmes for Saturday to leave for the national capital, where Governor ESL Narasimhan and state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana are already camping. They are likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other top leaders separately. Visiting Delhi for the second time in a week, the governor is likely to brief Sonia Gandhi, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and others about the latest political situation in the state. The visit of the state`s top leadership assume significance in view of the governor returning to the state government a file relating to its recommendation not to give permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute senior cabinet minister Dharmana Prasada Rao. The Governor has advised the cabinet to reconsider the issue and seek further legal opinion. The development has embarrassed the government and the chief minister is under fire from his critics in the cabinet for passing a resolution in the cabinet rejecting the CBI request for permission to prosecute the minister, an accused in YSR Congress party leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy`s disproportionate assets case. The Congress leadership`s summons to the chief minister are also significant in view of Dec 28 all-party meeting convened by the central government on the Telangana issue. The party is under pressure from its leaders in the Telangana region to take a stand in favour of the demand for statehood to Telangana. According to some Congress officials, the leadership is focusing on strengthening the organisation in the state in the run up to 2014 elections. They have not ruled out an expansion and reshuffle of the cabinet to give it a new look. IANS