Though he could not make his close aide and Krishna District Cooperative Central Bank (DCCB) president Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao president of Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Limited (APCOB), chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy finally had his way in selecting the candidate for the post.
Giving the cold-shoulder to his bete noire and panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy, the chief minister has yielded to the demands of his close aides, ministers DK Aruna and D Sridhar Babu, and decided that the the APCOB president’s five-year term be shared equally between Aruna-backed Mahbubnagar DCCB president K Veera Reddy and Sridhar Babu-supported Karimnagar DCCB president Konduru Ravinder Rao.
Veera Reddy will be the APCOB president for the first two and a half years and later, he would be succeeded by Ravinder Rao.
At first, Kiran Reddy wanted to give the post to former minister Pinnamanani Venkateshwara Rao. However, ministers from Telangana exerted pressure on the chief minister that the post be given to a Telangana leader this time. PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana too backed the Telangana leaders.
Following this, the chief minister had lengthy discussions with the newly-elected chiefs of DCCBs and District Cooperative Marketing Societies (DCMS) at his camp office here on Sunday night.
Finally, the chief minister has selected DK Aruna’s close aide and Mahbubnagar DCCB chief Veera Reddy to get the first two and a half years as APCOB president.
Later, Karimnagar DCCB president Ravinder Rao, a confidant of Sridhar Babu, would occupy the chair and will be in that post for the remaining two and a half years. However, Jana Reddy, who lobbied vigorously for Nalgonda DCCB chief Vijender Reddy to get the post could not get succeed.
It is learnt that as Jana Reddy has become a rallying point for Telangana votaries and chief minister’s detractors in the Congress, Kiran Reddy did not consider the plea of Jana Reddy on behalf of the Nalgonda DCCB president.
PCC chief Botcha, on Monday, announced the party’s decision to share the APCOB president’s job between Veera Reddy and Ravinder Rao.
“This time, we have decided to give the APCOB president’s post to a Telangana leader. As per this decision, Mahbubnagar DCCB president Veera Reddy and Karimnagar DCCB chief Ravidner Rao would share this post for an equal term,” Botcha told mediapersons at Gandhi Bhavan here.
Talking to reporters, Veera Reddy and Ravinder Rao too expressed satisfaction over the chief minister’s decision.
Soon after this, Veera Reddy filed his nomination papers for the post of APCOB president.