Congress rules out change in Andhra leadership

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday dismissed speculative reports about change of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief B Satyanarayana Rao.

AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, incharge of party affairs in the state, told reporters that reports of a change of guard in Andhra were "mere speculation". Azad also downplayed withdrawal of support to the Reddy-led government by Asaduddin Owaisi's Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

MIM has seven MLAs in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and one member in the Lok Sabha. Azad said he had spoken the Owaisi on phone and would meet him next week when the winter session of Parliament gets underway.

He disagreed with the charge of Owaisi that Andhra Pradesh government led by Reddy has shown high handedness in dealing with the issue of renovation of a temple near Charminar in the Old City area in Hyderabad.