Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has sent strong signals to his detractors within the Congress and the T- forces by rushing through with the appointment of V. Dinesh Reddy as the regular DGP. Though it was a foregone conclusion that Mr Dinesh Reddy would be the natural choice because of his seniority and previous experience in core feeder services, the state government, in a symbolic gesture, issued orders a few hours before the T-march started.
Despite Saturday being a holiday, the CM directed the officials concerned to issue the order. “We recei-ved the three member panel from the UPSC on Friday evening. In the normal course, the orders would have been issued on Monday,” a senior official said. The CM’s detractors in the Congress, in particular the T-MPs, had been targeting the CM by targeting the DGP. Sources said some members even lobbied in Delhi to put spokes in Mr Dinesh Reddy’s elevation. Anonymous complaints were lodged against the DGP to the UPSC also, sources added. A UPSC committee, headed by chairman D.P. Agrawal met a few days ago to select the panel of names to be sent to state as directed by the High Court. Chief Secretary Minnie Mathew and a representative of Union home ministry were also members of the committee.