CM Likely To Sideline D Srinivas

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will leave for New Delhi on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, to officially brief the Congress High Command on the campaigning in the Kadapa district in view of the ensuing by-elections.

However, informed sources said that Kiran Kumar Reddy's 2-day trip has little to do with the campaigning and more to do with the growing rift between him and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President D Srinivas.

The sources stated that the Chief Minister is keen on meeting top Congress leaders, including AICC President Sonia Gandhi, In-Charge Of Andhra Pradesh Affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad and a few other members of the Congress Core Committee, to lodge complaints against Srinivas.

These sources, which are considered to be reliable, say that the rift between Kiran Kumar Reddy and Srinivas has grown to such an extent that both the leaders want to avoid working with each other.

The 2 leaders are said to have started drifting apart during the selection of candidates for the Legislative Council elections.

According to highly-placed sources, the PCC chief had strongly advised against naming B Naresh Kumar Reddy and Ganga Bhavani as party candidates from the Chittoor and West Godavari districts, respectively. However, the Chief Minister insisted on the 2 candidates, brushing aside Srinivas' objections.

The rift between the two is said to have intensified further when the Chief Minister insisted on naming Kadapa strongman Kandula Rajamohan Reddy as the party candidate, even before the Kandula brothers confirmed their willingness to contest the elections.

Rajamohan Reddy, however, had later declined to be in the fray, and left the Congress red-faced.

"After Rajamohan Reddy refused to take the risk of facing Jaganmohan Reddy in the elections, the Chief Minister had no other option but to agree to Srinivas' choice, Dr. D L Ravindra Reddy, as the Congress candidate," the sources said.

The sources also said that Kiran Kumar Reddy is insecure about Srinivas influencing the state Congress leaders, and that he (the CM) would try to convince the High Command to replace Srinivas with former Minister Sambani Chandrasekhar.

The CM will also try to get the High Command to forward the name of former Speaker Suresh Reddy as the party's choice to Governor E S L Narasimhan, the sources said.

"Kiran Kumar will request the Governor to nominate the former Speaker as an MLC from his (the Governor's) quota," the sources added.

It may be recalled here that Srinivas has been keen to get inside the Council, especially after losing the elections to the Assembly. The High Command is likely to name him as the party choice for the Governor's quota. (INN)