CM consulted on Dharmana future

[1]

The Congress High Command has started consulting the Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief, Mr Botsa Satyanarayana, on steps to be taken in the wake of the roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao submitting his resignation following the CBI’s chargesheet against him in the Jagan Mohan Reddy illegal investments case. The PCC chief Botsa has left for Delhi on Monday to have one-on-one meetings with party leaders.

Dharmana’s resignation is not the only issue, said a source. “The High Command is expected to look into the role of other ministers too who are yet to be named by the CBI,” said a source. The decision on Dharmana will be crucial, as it will send a signal to other ministers to follow suit if they are named. In a related development, 10 Cabinet ministers met at the residence of tourism minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar on Monday night. He briefed them about the provisions under Article 163 (3) of Constitution which states that policy decisions taken by the Cabinet shall not be questioned by any court. The CM is not bound to permit prosecution of Mr Prasada Rao as sought by CBI.

The ministers who attended the meeting contacted other ministers and have decided to meet the CM at 10 am on Tuesday and apprise him about the Constitutional provisions. Geeta Reddy, Kanna Laxminarayana, D. Sridhar Babu and Prasada Rao attended the meeting. The meeting observed that Constitutional provision protecting policy decisions taken by Cabinet were upheld by Supreme Court earlier on three occassions.

Meanwhile, pressure was mounted on the Chief Minister by his close confidants to visit Delhi for “It is high time the Chief Minister established his leadership in the state,” said a minister close to him. Also, the PCC chief is going to press for the constitution of PCC office-bearers, state executive and District Congress Committees to be in place.