Congress leaders ruffled over DL dismissal

Issue set to be raised at next Cabinet meeting

• Jana, Dy CM, Saraiah, Kotla, Palvai flay action
• Even in cases of graft, PM did not ask Ministers to quit
• Say it is not proper to sack when DL was abroad A
• Jana demands party coordination cell meeting

Hyderabad: The sacking of D L Ravindra Reddy from the Council of Ministers on Saturday does not seem to have gone down well with party seniors particularly, Deputy Chief Minister D Rajanarasimha and Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy.

A day after the Chief Minister sacked DL, Rajanarsimha went to Jana Reddy's house and discussed with him for about an hour about the present political developments with a special focus on the dismissal of Ravindra Reddy.A Coming out of the meeting, Jana Reddy told media that the Chief Minister's action was a painful one for him. He demanded that the party high command convene a meeting of the party coordination panel to bring about unity between the warring groups � whether it is ministers or MLAs.

He said this being an election year, there was a great need for unity among party leaders if the Congress party were to fare well in various elections, starting from local bodies to 2014 general elections.A Jana Reddy also felt that the high command should also resolve the vexatious problem of separate Telangana. If that was resolved, half the battle would be won. Asked when the high command would act on the issue, he said he was confident that it would take a decision soon.

DL also got support from Union Minister of State for Railways, Kotla Jaya Suryaprakash Reddy. Speaking to media in Kurnool, he expressed his displeasure over the sudden dismissal of Ravindra Reddy. He said "It is not proper to dismiss the Minister when he was on a holiday. Chief Minister should have waited for him to return before taking action."A Earlier during the day, Rajya Sabha Member and Congress veteran Palvai Govardhan Reddy told some scribes that the Chief Minister should not have taken such a hasty step. Terming the development unfortunate, he said it was not a good practice to sack a Minister and that too such a senior leader. Even at the Centre in cases of graft, the Prime Minister had asked the Ministers concerned to resign. "They were not sacked," he said.

Palvai felt that the high command should have gathered more information from its own sources before giving the nod to sack Ravindra Reddy.A The Minister for BC Welfare, Basawaraj Saraiah, expressed his serious displeasure over the Chief Minister's attitude, and said that he would raise the issue at the next Cabinet meeting. Though the Chief Minister had the prerogative for dropping anyone, it was not proper to sack a Minister, he observed.