Normally, Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary is a good occasion for Congress leaders to reaffirm their commitment to strengthen the party. But they were in for embarrassment on Monday, when the rumblings in the Congress only became louder on the occasion.
The day began with a controversy kicked off by a letter purportedly written by Union minister Kishore Chandra Deo to the party high command allegedly against PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana and chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
A section of media claimed that the Union minister had, in the letter, alleged that Botcha was a mafia don and Kiran Reddy was an ineffective chief minister and hence he wanted the high command to replace both of them.
However, Deo denied the reports that he had written a letter to the AICC leadership. Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Monday, the Union minister said, “I have not written any letter to the party high command in the past five months. Moreover, if I want to say something, I will say it openly. It is not in my habit to write secret letters. Whether it is the issue of permitting bauxite mining in Visakhapatnam or police encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh, I had expressed my opinion frankly.”
Asked about the differences between the chief minister and the PCC chief, Deo said the party’s situation in Andhra Pradesh was known to everybody. AICC spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit also clarified that Deo had not written any such letter.
He also made it clear that there would not be any change of guard in the state.
Meanwhile, Botcha reacted strongly to the issue. “I don’t think Deo will ever write such letters. I will sue the newspaper and TV channels which published or telecast the report. A conspiracy is being hatched against me,” said Botcha.
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