Delhi's nod likely for Kiran's cabinet rejig

Hyderabad: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is likely to get a green signal for the long pending reshuffle of the State Cabinet from the Congress high command at the April 15 meeting. This would pave way to drop the tainted ministers and create a team of his, said sources.

Some of the senior Congress leaders felt that whether the high command agrees for a reshuffle or not, the Chief Minister should drop the tainted ministers.

They said that even if Sabitha claims that she is innocent, it may not be proper to continue her as the Home Minister as she would have to attend the court as accused almost every fortnight.

In fact, inclusion of Sabitha's name in the chargesheet filed by the CBI in Jaganmohan Reddy's illegal assets case has caused a near rift in the Congress.

While some feel that there is nothing that the Chief Minister can do since the matter is in the court, others feel that the issue was not handled properly by the Chief Minister and the PCC president causing embarrassment for the party in the election year.

While former minister T Jeevan Reddy found fault with the government for not taking a clear stand on the 26 controversial GOs in the initial stages and said that the Chief Minister should take the responsibility for the mess in which the party has now landed, party chief whip G Venkataramana Reddy, refused to comment on it, and said it was for the Chief Minister and the PCC president to answer. 'The CLP has no role in the matter,' he added.

Defending Sabitha for having done anything wrong, Jeevan Reddy said, 'She can be held responsible if she had taken any decisions on her own.

But in this case, she had only implemented the decisions of the Cabinet and if there is something wrong in it, then the entire Cabinet including Chief Minister should be held responsible.

But it appears that to save some, the government is sacrificing some of its ministers,' he said adding that the CBI was harassing the Ministers.

Some of the Ministers, whose names figure in the controversial GOs, have started drawing a parallel in the manner in which the former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy defended Botcha in the Volkswagen case and how Kiran is dealing with the present controversy.

Meanwhile, Sabitha is said to be preparing her defence in consultation with legal experts on the charges mentioned in the chargesheet. Ever since her name figured in the chargesheet, Sabitha has not been attending office.