Congress Pulls Up Chief Minister

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday stated that the party was above all posts and personal interests of leaders.

Addressing the Congress executive body meeting at Gandhi Bhavan, the Chief Minister advised party leaders and workers to work as one in strengthening the presence of the Congress party in the state. He said that instead of lobbying for posts, leaders should focus their attention towards reaching out to the people to understand their problems. He announced that it was the responsibility of all leaders and workers to take the government's schemes to the doorsteps of the people.

However, there were not many takers for the Chief Minister?s advise during the meeting which was marred by noisy scenes. Several party leaders grilled the Chief Minister for his "unilateral" decisions on policy matters. Kiran Kumar Reddy was also questioned about his differences with Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.

At least 15 ministers and several former ministers abstained from the crucial meeting which was held after a long time. However, those attended came fully prepared to pull up the Chief Minister on several issues. According to sources, Kiran Kumar Reddy faced tough questioning over his announcement of extending subsidy on LPG cylinders, and on the delay in filling up nominated posts.

Sources say that Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao alleged that senior and loyal leaders of the party were being ignored by the party and they were not being considered for nominated posts. AICC Secretary Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy asked the Chief Minister to follow Sonia Gandhi's directives to all the Congress-ruled states to supply nine subsidised LPG cylinders for all consumers, instead of confining the same to Deepam beneficiaries.

Raising the issue of Telangana, the leaders from the region including Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar said that the party would continue to lose its ground in the Telangana districts unless the Centre makes a clear announcement on the statehood issue. (INN)