CM, Chiranjeevi meet AP Governor amid Prez rule speculations

Hyderabad, Jan 13 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NKiran Kumar Reddy and Praja Rajyam Party chief K Chiranjeevitoday met Governor E S L Narasimhan separately, amidst thespeculation that the state is heading for President''s rule.

The Chief Minister met the Governor earlier in the day atthe Raj Bhawan, where it is said that they discussed thelatest political situation in the state during the 10-minutemeeting.

The Chief Minister''s Office, however, said it was just a''courtesy call'' by Reddy.

However, their meeting assumes significance as there wastalk of imposition of President''s rule in the state withabout two dozen Congress MLAs openly supporting rebel leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Besides, the turmoil over Telangana isalso being cited as a reason for imposition of the centralrule.

Later, PRP president Chiranjeevi met the Governor thisevening. His party''s support to Congress becomes essential inthe event of the rebel MLAs walking away from the rulingparty.

However, Chiranjeevi is not in a comfortable position astwo of his 18 MLAs have also sided with Jagan, whilespeculation is rife that a few more may follow suit.

"I met the Governor only to convey my greetings on theeve of Sankranti festival. There is no political significanceto our meeting," Chiranjeevi said after the meeting.

Chiranjeevi, however, said Governor Narasimhan expressedhappiness that the state remained peaceful after thesubmission of report by Justice Srikrishna Committee on thestatehood issue. "There was apprehension about unrest in thestate after the submission of the Committee report. But thereis no such thing. The Governor expressed happiness over this."

The actor-turned politician said his party would supportthe Congress government in case it fells short of majority.

"We will definitely support the government. That is onlyin public interest and nothing else," he maintained.

On initiating disciplinary action against the two PRPMLAs who took part in the one-day hunger-strike by Jagan inNew Delhi recently, Chiranjeevi said the party leadershipdiscussed the issue and would take a decision in a couple ofdays on issuing a show-cause notice to the duo.