The chief minister was reportedly taken to task by core committee members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Pranab Mukherjee for attending Jagan’s fast in Delhi. Known for his spontaneous responses Kiran Kumar Reddy is said to have retorted: “Nobody can do anything more in a situation like this,” and washed off his hands contending that Veerappa Moily alone was responsible for the state of affairs in AP.
Meanwhile, Governor E S L Narasimhan has allegedly sent a report to the Centre suggesting that the 1969 strategy of appointing a chief minister from any key Telangana activist from the party should be followed. In 1969, TPS president M Channa Reddy was roped into the Congress and made a chief minister. In the present circumstance, it could be either K Keshav Rao or even Chandrasekhar Rao of the TRS.
A prominent Telangana campaigner in Kiran’s cabinet, K Jana Reddy, however, said that change of guard at this juncture would be disastrous. “Change of CM within two months of the last shift would show that the situation is not in the hands of the party,” he said.
Further building up pressure on the CM and the Congress high command, Jagan’s loyalists claimed that at least 13 more MLAs were ready to join them. Such a disclosure shows that Jagan’s camp is 34 MLA strong.
With Jagan talking numbers, the chief minister had held discussions with PRP chief Chiranjeevi and MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi seeking their support. Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi met the governor on Thursday, but there has been no word on what transpired during the meeting.