Remove Kiran and Botsa from their posts: Shankar Rao to Sonia

Former minister Dr P Shankar Rao on Monday demanded that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana be immediately removed from their posts.

In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Dr Shankar Rao alleged that the Dalits and those who launched a tirade against corruption were distancing away from the party. If the High Command does not replace the Chief Minister and his team till 2014, he said that the party would be in a difficult position in the State.

Later, talking to reporters, Dr Shankar Rao said that the by-elections in the State would be a referendum on the government. He said that the victory of party candidates would be decided based on the style of functioning of government in the elections.

He also came down heavily on the Chief Minister and PCC president for their failure to tackle the criticism of Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in the ensuing by-election campaigns.

Dr Shankar Rao accused the Ministers, MPs and MLAs of the ruling party for their failure to effectively handle Jagan's criticism. Stating that criticism by the opposition parties would affect the Congress' prospects in the by-elections, he appealed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to remove the Chief Minister and PCC chief from their posts immediately.

Taking a dig at the Congress leaders over their criticism on Jagan Mohan Reddy for not signing the declaration of faith during his visit to Tirumala, he asked as why they did not raised objection on visit of Kiran Kumar Reddy’s wife N Radhika Reddy, who is a practising Christian.