Sonia summons Kanna, sparks revamp buzz

HYDERABAD: Congress president Sonia Gandhi summoning Andhra Pradesh agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana to New Delhi has triggered widespread speculation of a possible revamp in the party's state unit as well as the government. The Congress chief, sources said, wants to keep a set of loyal party leaders in place to lead the state unit and the government in case politics around the bifurcation process gathers steam, with chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy assuming trenchant anti-split position.

Kanna, who got the phone call from 10, Janpath, on Sunday night, rushed from Guntur to Hyderabad and took the Monday morning flight to Delhi after cancelling a public event in his native district. His meeting with Sonia is learnt to have taken place at 12.15 pm and lasted around 20 minutes. The meeting assumes significance as the Congress president has stopped meeting state leaders from both sides of the regional divide ever since agitations erupted in Seemandhra following the July 30 CWC decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.

The meeting took place amid talk that the Congress high command was planning to give the responsibility of the Congress's revival in Seemandhra to a team of party loyalists from the region representing all castes. Kanna, who began his political career with the NSUI, is believed to be one such leader. His name was shortlisted by the high command to possibly lead the Congress if Kiran parts ways with the Congress, a party source said.

While Kanna refused to disclose details of his meeting with Sonia, his aides claimed he was being sounded out to head the PCC or even be ready to be named deputy chief minister.

"The Congress president assured all help for Seemandhra and asked me to present my proposals to the group of ministers. I told Soniaji that Seemandhra people had never desired division and requested her to address the issue adequately," Kanna told TOI over phone from Delhi.

In the meeting, Sonia is said to have expressed her displeasure at the way her party leaders have been targeting the high command for the bifurcation decision.

Incidentally, Kanna did not stay at AP Bhavan and checked into an undisclosed address in Delhi after his meeting with Sonia. He has put in a request for an appointment with the GoM on Tuesday, which is slated to individually interact with seven of the eight recognized political parties from the state on bifurcation.