Governor meets Union ministers,Andhra may see leadership change

Sources in the APCC said the Governors visit was actually related to an expected announcement on Telangana later this month.

The Andhra Pradesh state capital was abuzz with reports of change in leadership and an announcement on Telangana,after Governor E S L Narasimhan met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde,Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Saturday evening in New Delhi. The Governor has,however,described his visit to New Delhi as routine,and his meetings with the Union ministers as courtesy visits after the recent reshuffle.

There was a buzz in the Andhra Congress that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy may be asked to step down,first due to the debacle in the June byelections which was swept by the YSR Congress,with the ruling Congress managing to win only two of 18 Assembly seats where by-polls were held,and second,due to internal complaints that he was proving to be an ineffective leader.

The Congress high command was reportedly waiting for the elections of President and Vice-President to be over before considering of changing the leadership in the state and that Jaipal Reddy,who is an MP from Chevalla on the outskirts of Hyderabad,was tipped off to take over as the chief minister.

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Sources in the APCC said the Governors visit was actually related to an expected announcement on Telangana later this month. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had ticked off Congress MPs from Telangana for raising pro-Telangana slogans in the Lok Sabha on Thursday saying that when the issue was under consideration there was no reason for them to do such a thing in Parliament.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had been claiming that it has credible information that with the elevation of former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as the President,the Congress would announce the formation of a separate state of Telangana or,at least,make its stand clear on the issue.

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