Hyderabad: Several legislators and leaders
of the erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) on Saturday held talks
with the Andhra Pradesh Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana
here.
The meeting assumed significance against the backdrop of
reports about the possible inclusion of PRP founder
Chiranjeevi into the Union Cabinet and the party legislators
into the state cabinet.
Senior legislators C Ramachandraiah, Ganta Srinivasa Rao
and other leaders of PRP met the APCC president at Gandhi
Bhavan, the state Congress headquarters.
Some sources in the Congress claimed that the APCC
president himself met Chiranjeevi during the day.
However, even though there was no official word on what
transpired at the meetings, party sources said the leaders of
erstwhile PRP discussed the issue of possible bypolls in the
state in the event of the Assembly Speaker disqualifying the
Congress MLAs, who voted against the government during the
recent vote of confidence in the House.
Though 16 Congress MLAs, loyal to Kadapa MP Y S Jagan
Mohan Reddy, voted against the government, it survived the
Floor test due to the crucial support of 17 PRP MLAs.
Though Praja Rajyam formally merged with Congress, it
continues to be a separate group in the Assembly, as the
formalities concerned with the matter are yet to be completed.
Meanwhile, senior minister K Jana Reddy, who hails from
Telangana region, also met the state Congress president.
Reddy discussed the plan of the ministers from Telangana
to visit Delhi to meet top party leaders over the separate
statehood demand, party sources said.
PTI
