Two days after Revenue Minister N Raghuveera Reddy hinted at “hard decisions” by the Congress high command with regard to the much-awaited changes in the State government and the State party unit, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy flew to Delhi on Wednesday evening for talks with the party top brass.
His visit comes amid renewed talk on possible change of guard either in the State government or the PCC in order to prepare the Congress for the 2014 polls.
Kiran Reddy, considered a protege of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had a lengthy meeting with his mentor on Tuesday during the latter’s visit to the city. Party sources said Chidambaram had given a few suggestions to him on how to counter plaints against him with the party high command. His detractors had flooded the party bosses with complaints against Kiran’s alleged unilateral approach and dictatorial attitude.
The Chief Minister is expected to submit a report to the Congress high command on the performance of his government thus far besides, presenting his side of the story on allegations that he’s not consulting his Cabinet colleagues before formulating new schemes.
Kiran is likely to meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday.
As the Chief Minister left for Delhi, the guessing game on the likely outcome of his visit intensified among Congress leaders. Some partymen believe the party high command may clear the air over long-pending issues like Telangana, Cabinet reshuffle, fate of tainted ministers and restructuring of the PCC after talks with Kiran.
PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana’s fate, which is hanging in balance following Rahul Gandhi’s directive to implement the ‘one man and one post’ norm at all levels in the party, is also expected to be decided after Kiran’s talks with the high command.
Some party leaders said even the Chief Minister was worried about the impending hard decisions. “Kiran Reddy, who did not take seriously the brewing rebellion against him from his Cabinet colleagues till Monday, hurriedly held a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday over the Bangaru Thalli scheme to claim before the high command that he’s been consulting his colleagues on every scheme,” said a minister.