A day after 23 ministers piled pressure on Kiran Kumar Reddy not to accept the resignation of roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, the Congress high command summoned the chief minister to Delhi.
Sources said that as per the directive from on high, Kiran Kumar will leave for the national capital Thursday morning.
The high command's summons set off speculation of a purge of the cabinet and an overhaul of the PCC -- in addition to a decision on Dharmana's resignation.
State Congress chief Botcha Satyanrayana has been in Delhi since Monday, holding talks with senior party leaders on Dharmana's resignation after the latter was chargesheeted by the CBI in the Jagan Mohan Reddy assets case.
The chief minister is expected to convey to the high command the ministers' argument against acceptance of the resignation, which they put to him in blunt terms on Tuesday.
The ministers are taking shelter behind the plea of collective responsibility for decisions taken by the cabinet of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, which the agency says went to the benefit of Jagan Mohan Reddy.
For the ministers, the signals from Delhi are not good. When Telangana Congress MPs met AICC emissary Vayalar Ravi in Delhi to seek clarity on their pet peeve, the senior leader remained silent on that issue but said cryptically that no one should interfere in the CBI's investigation.
This, it is being interpreted, as a hint that this is the end of the road for Dharmana. While letting the guillotine drop, the high command is said to want to clothe it as a decision taken by the chief minister in order to have no blood on its hands.
Meanwhile the Save Dharmana campaign continued.
Tech minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and major irrigation minister P Sudarshan Reddy met the chief minister at the latter's camp office Wednesday morning.
The former is one of those who have received Supreme Court notices in connection with 26 controversial GOs issued during the YSR days.