Kiran to lose CM post in Feb second week?

Political circles have been abuzz with reports that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy will soon either resign in support of Samaikyandhra or the Congress High command will suspend him for continuously defying the party guidelines. But there is no clarity when this will take place.

According to credible sources in the AICC, the Congress High Command is preparing to sack Kiran Kumar Reddy after Rajya Sabha elections on February 7. Probably, in the second week of February, the source said.

It is learnt that the Centre will ask the CM to resign after the biennial elections.

It is understood that the Congress High Command took serious exception to Kiran staging a protest at their doorsteps against his party's decision.

Giving credence to the speculations, Telangana Congress leaders claim that AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh was hinting about the same during his talks with them.

Why Congress wants to sack him...

• In a major embarrassment to the UPA government and in a sign of defying party leadership, AP CM Kiran sat on a day-long protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to demand that the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013 rejected by both Houses of the state Assembly, not be tabled in the Parliament.
• In the past, the CM even threw an open challenge to the Congress High Command saying he would ensure the defeat of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013 when it comes up for passage in the state Assembly.
• Ever since the Congress Working Committee's decision to divide the state was made public, the CM is at loggerheads with the party leadership
• CM Kiran has even skipped several meetings convened by the Congress High Command. Recently, he skipped a day-long AICC session held in Delhi. He also refused to attend a meeting with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
• Some of Kiran's bold statements to national media against the Congress saying he was trying to stop his party from making a mistake has irked his party
• Pictures of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh were missing in the flexis where he held public meetings

Raghuveera Reddy: Kiran won't be replaced

Revenue minister N. Raghuveera Reddy refuted rumours of changing the guard of Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to the media, Raghuveera Reddy said that changing Chief Minister Kumar Reddy is a mere speculation. " We are all opposing Congress High Command's decision on the Telangana issue," he added.

Leaders who are planning to quit the Congress party are criticizing the party, he added. State division will be stopped if CM Kiran, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and honorary president YS Vijayamma come together to urge President Pranab Mukherjee to stall the process, he said.