Union Law Minister and Congress In-Charge of Andhra Pradesh Affairs M Veerappa Moily on Thursday denied that there was any truth behind the rumours which were broadcast on a few news channels that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy would be replaced.
Talking to media persons here, Moily said that there was no truth behind the reports, and the news was aired only to create confusion in the minds of people.
He said that the Chief Minister was handling the situation efficiently, and was providing good administration using his leadership skills.
Taking a serious view of the reports, Moily asked the media to discharge its duties in a responsible manner before airing such baseless news items. He said that there was no proposal of replacing Kiran Kumar Reddy before the high command, and Reddy would continue till 2014 elections.
Meanwhile, Panchayati Raj Minister K Jana Reddy has condemned the reports appearing in a section of the media that the Chief Minister will be replaced by the High Command.
Until the centre solves the Telangana statehood issue, it will not replace the Chief Minister.
Jana Reddy said that the replacement of the Chief Minister would not serve any purpose, and termed the reports aired across channels as baseless and far from truth.
According to the reports doing rounds, the Congress high command, to appease the Telangana leaders over the separate statehood demand, offered to replace the existing Chief Minister from the Rayalaseema region with a prominent leader from the Telangana region.
The proposed names to replace the Chief Minister from the Telangana region are Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal reddy, MLA Uttam Kumar Reddy and K Jana Reddy. It also offered 2 central ministers posts in the union cabinet before the upcoming budget session, the media reported.
However, it seems that the Telangana Congress leaders did not relent, and struck to their guns in the recently held meeting with CWC member Pranab Mukherjee.