With the all-party meeting on the Telangana tangle just days away, three top men from the state - governor ESL Narasimhan, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana - are busy meeting top Congress functionaries in the national capital.
Kiran Kumar’s sudden visit to Delhi even as the other two were already camping there, as well as his hectic parleys with state affairs in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad and Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have triggered several speculations on the Telangana issue, a likely cabinet reshuffle and the prosecution of ministers in the Jagan Mohan Reddy case.
Some Telangana Congress leaders have predicted a financial package or setting up of a development council for the region as a temporary solution soon after the all-party meeting. The fact that the summons to the chief minister came a day after AICC supremo Sonia Gandhi met two Telangana leaders, deputy chief minister Damodara Rajanarasimha and panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy, has added to the rumours.
CM, during his meeting with Sonia Gandhi and Azad at her 10 Janpath residence on Saturday, is understood to have submitted a report on the party’s situation in the state as well as the T issue. Though there was no clarity on what transpired at the meeting, state Congress leaders feel that the leaders might have discussed the strategy to be adopted by the party on Dec 28. The issue of the governor rejecting the cabinet recommendation to save Dharmana Prasada Rao from CBI’s prosecution is also understood to have figured in the meeting. Kiran is also reported to have sought a nod to reshuffle the cabinet.
Earlier in the day, Kiran Kumar met Azad and Shinde separately. In the latter meeting, the CM expressed his inability to attend the National Development Council meeting on December 27 due to the inauguration of the World Telugu Conference at Tirupati on the same day.
Kiran later had an hour-long meeting with Botcha at the AP Bhavan where the duo finalised a list of probables for nominated posts. Later they together met Azad to discuss the list. Six names have been proposed, which include Undavalli Arun Kumar and Suresh Shetkar. Meanwhile, AICC secretary KB Krishna Murthy said there would not be any change of guard either in the state or in the state Congress.