Kiran sacks DL

Kiran sacks DL
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Highlights

Action comes just after Cong Core Group meeting DL turns a bitter critic soon after being made a minister He never let go of any chance to take...

Action comes just after Cong Core Group meeting
  • DL turns a bitter critic soon after being made a minister
  • He never let go of any chance to take on CMA
  • Botcha terms it unfortunate
  • Action against other dissenters in the offing, say sources
  • Governor accepts CM's recommendation
Hyderabad: In his bid to demonstrate that he is the real captain of the Congress government in the State and that he will not tolerate any iota of indiscipline, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has sacked Health Minister D L Ravidra Reddy from the Council of Ministers.
There are indications that one or more ministers may meet the same fate soon. DL RaviderThe development took place at a lightning speed. Within 24 hours of his return from New Delhi, Kiran on Saturday decided to sack the minister and sent the letter recommending it to the Governor ESL Narsimhan around 7.30 pm and the Governor immediately accepted it and sent the file back to Chief Minister's Office. Minister for Transport Botcha Satyanarayana may be relieved from the Council of Ministers and he will continue as PCC president, sources say. He reacted on the development, terming it as unfortunate. Ravindra Reddy is the second minister to be sacked after Dr P Shankar Rao. Minister for Medical Education Kondru Murali has been given the additional charge of health. Dr Duggireddy Lakshmi Ravindra Reddy, popular as D L, represents Mydkur assembly constituency in Kadapa district. A doctor by profession, Ravindra Reddy was elected to the state assembly for six times. He has turned a bitter critic of Kiran Kumar Reddy within four months of being inducted into the Council of Ministers. Congress party sources say that the differences between them took a turn for worse when DL was asked to contest against YSRCP leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy from Kadapa Lok Sabha seat. DL reportedly insisted that Kiran leave the responsibility of winning the seat to him. But the latter supervised the poll campaign. The party lost the contest and DL is said to have been miffed with Kiran since then, and never let go of any chance to criticise him.A Recently, the minister openly criticised the Chief Minister for the government schemes, be it the Re 1-a-kg rice scheme, the hike in power tariff or the latest Bangaru Talli (girl child incentive scheme). He went to the extent of exhorting people to "chase and thrash us" if the new schemes (announced by the CM) were not properly implemented. He had also suggested that the cabinet ministers eat the rice first before supplying it to the poor. He criticized Kiran for "making fun of the downtrodden by supplying poor quality rice at Re 1 kg, while all the commodities and vegetables are beyond their reach." DL also criticised the Chief Minister for introducing 'Bangaru Talli' scheme for all-round development of women without discussing it in the Cabinet. He took strong objection to the "unilateral manner" in which it was announced. He said the operational guidelines including the way the Government proposed to implement it were not discussed in the Cabinet, and sent a detailed protest note to the Chief Secretary. DL is at present in London on a holiday with his family and is expected to be back here on June 3. He told scribes over phone that he had not resorted to any sort of anti-party activities during his tenure in the Cabinet. "As a responsible minister, I only pointed out at the lapses in government schemes. It is common in any democracy." He said he had worked hard and sincerely both as a Congressman and as a minister, and added that he had once resigned in the past and it would have been better if CM had accepted it then instead of resorting to such measures. The sacking of Ravindra Reddy indicates that the Congress high command has decided to strengthen the hands of the Chief Minister in the run-up to the 2014 general elections. This act of the chief minister has come in for sharp criticism by Shankar Rao who said chief minister was destroying party. He was turning Congress Hastam (hand) into Bhasmasura Hastam. Under Kiran's stewardship, the congress vote bank had plummeted from 34 percent to 19 percent, he said. However chairman of 20point implementation committee, N Tulasi Reddy dismissed it as a pure administrative decision. It is the prerogative of chief minister to take any decision in the interest of running smooth administration, he said. Minister for Transport Botcha Satyanrayana described the development as unfortunate. Sources said that during his meeting with the AICC supremo on Friday, Kiran sought permission to drop his detractors from the Cabinet and got her nod. It is pertinent to note that the development took place soon after Congress Core Committee had a three-hour long meeting in Delhi chaired by Sonia Gandhi. The Congress high command during the core committee meeting was learnt to have chalked out an action plan to overhaul the state government and the party in the run-up to 2014 polls. As part of this, the possibility of a minor reshuffle of the Cabinet after the phase-II of the budget session is not ruled out.
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