Is Chief Minister Kiran kumar reddy on his way out? Is the main purpose of the visit of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister and in-charge of the congress affairs in the state, to Hyderabad to elicit the opinions of MLAs on the selection of possible successor to Kiran?

Political tongues say ‘yes’ to these two questions. The tongues began wagging today in the back drop of Azad keeping chief minister Kiran and PCC chief D. Srinivas off the consultations he has been holding with various senior leaders of the party for the last two days in Hyderabad.

Azad was sent to Hyderabad by the high command on a damage control exercise and give a new life to the congress party in the state in the wake of the disastrous results the congress had experienced in the by elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly seats.

Political circles say that Union Minister Purandhareswari and Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana are the front runners for the post of chief minister in case of congress deciding to replace Kiran with someone else.

The congress high command has not heard from any MLA or leader till now on the goings on in the party in the state and is only possessed of the information given to it by the PCC chief and CM. But this time, the high command has decided to know the actual position of the party in the state by taking the opinion of all groups.

Most of the leaders and MLAs seem to have complained openly against the CM and sought Kiran’s removal from the Gaddi.

The main complaint against the CM seems to be that he was only listening to the officials and not caring for the MLAs or senior leaders in the party. After listening to all groups in the party, Azad will brief the High Command on the status of the party in the state and recommend steps to revitalize it.