The axe has finally fallen on Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy. If P Sabitha Reddy and Dharmana Prasada Rao were shown the door in a polite manner recently for being charged by the CBI in Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s assets case, Ravindra Reddy was sent out unceremoniously at a time when he was in London with his family members.
According to sources, Chief Minister’s Secretary S S Rawat took the file to Raj Bhavan where Governor E S L Narasimhan put his stamp of approval.
Ravindra Reddy’s removal from the Cabinet is being seen as an indication that Kiran Kumar Reddy’s hands have been strengthened. In the absence of any freedom for the Chief Minister, some ministers had been running a campaign of calumny against him, chief among them being Ravindra Reddy. The latest of his outbursts was on the chief minister’s favourite programme ‘Bangaru Thalli’ meant for providing financial security to girl child. He had said that if the programme is not properly implemented, people would drive Congress leaders away from villages.
His removal from the Cabinet is also intended to send out a signal that similar fate would befall those who do not fall in line.