Timely 'Game Plan' Of AP Congress Chief To Grab Key Post

Strike when the iron is hot, seems to be the Andhra Pradesh PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana’s game plan. Two days after the CBI chargesheeted home minister Sabita Indra Reddy in the Jagan assets case, the state Congress chief airdashed to Delhi on Wednesday with a new request to the Congress high command: “Make me the deputy chief minister and give me charge of the home portfolio.” 
    
otsa met AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday evening where the issue cropped up. Concerned over the fifth chargesheet filed by the CBI in the Jagan assets case on Monday, Azad had called up chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday and enquired about the details of the case as well as the specific charges that have been leveled against Sabita. “Getting wind of the fact that the party high command is considering shifting Sabita out of the home portfolio, the PCC chief wants to convey to them that the long awaited revamp in the state can be effected now and he be given charge of home affairs after being appointed deputy chief minister,” Congress sources in the inside track told INN. 
    
Botsa loyalists insist that there is no threat to C Damodar Raja Narasimha’s position as deputy chief minister nor is their leader aiming to dislodge the deputy CM. “There has been a demand for the second deputy chief minister to be appointed from coastal Andhra region as Rayalaseema and Telangana are already represented in the form of Kiran Kumar as chief minister and Raja Narasimha as deputy CM. So, Botsa wants a second deputy chief minister post for the Andhra region with the home portfolio in lieu of the PCC chief charge. In fact, Botsa had long ago conveyed such a wish to Azad,” a Botsa loyalist confided to INN. 

High command to look into Sabita issue Adecision on continuation of Sabita Indra Reddy as home minister will be taken after studying the CBI chargesheet that named her in the Jagan assets case, AICC state in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad said in New Delhi on Wednesday.”We will take a decision on the issue only after studying the charges levelled against her,” Azad told the media. Meanwhile, Sabita has started preparing her defence on the charges levelled against her. TNN PCC chief in a hurry 
Hyderabad: The urgency on the part of Botsa is understandable. After AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi made it clear in January this year that the party should strictly adhere to the one-man one-post policy, the writing on the wall is clear for Botsa that he has to forego either the PCC chief post or the transport portfolio that he holds in the Kiran cabinet. 
    
While Botsa was keen to retain the party post and give up the ministerial berth, the high command made it clear to him during one of his visits to Delhi in March that it is the PCC post that he has to give up. And indications are that the change could happen as early as April itself. 
    
Thus Botsa’s visit to Delhi on Wednesday was to impress upon the high command to effect the changes as advised by him so that the same can be finalized and communicated to Kiran Kumar when he arrives in the national capital on April 15 to attend a conference of CMs on combating terrorism. The Congress sources claimed that a shake-up in the Kiran cabinet is high on the agenda when the CM comes calling. “In the first place, Sabita cannot continue as home minister after being chargesheeted. Secondly, more ministers could end up getting booked by the CBI. Hence, a revamp would become necessary,” they said.