Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Monday discounted that he mooted en masse resignations by all the ministers to give him a free hand for reconstituting his cabinet.
Speaking to newsmen before leaving for Delhi, Dr Reddy took potshots at the media for creating these rumours. "It is absolutely baseless. Absolutely, there is no question of the cabinet resigning. There is no such thinking at all. It is all your brainchild. We create news and you create news," he told the mediapersons.
Referring to the resignation of Sports and Culture Minister M Satyanarayana Rao from the cabinet, Dr Reddy quipped, "He is too sensitive a person. He is too elderly a person. In my cabinet, probably he is the oldest person. He takes even small things very seriously. He over-reacted to newspaper reports. He felt hurt and handed in his resignation."
"I told him it is not necessary. After all, the judicial inquiry report has to come. Absolutely, no need for you to react to a story in the media. The Anti-Corruption Bureau probe will take time. They have submitted a preliminary report. It is not the final report. I spoke to Satyanarayana Rao. I am sure he will reconsider his decision to resign," he pointed out.
Answering questions about the cabinet reshuffle in view of the resignation of six Telangana Rashtra Samithi ministers, the CM said he will take the media into confidence whenever such an exercise was taken up.
He later left for Delhi to participate in a meeting with TRS chief and Union Labour Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to sort out the latter's grievances with regard to immediate issues affecting Telangana.
It may be recalled that Satyanarayana Rao, who earlier handled the Endowments portfolio, had handed his resignation letter to the CM on Sunday night following media reports that the Anti Corruption Bureau had indicted him for his role in the temple lands scandal that rocked the state in June.
Incidentally, this is the third time in 44 days that Satyanarayana Rao sought to quit the state cabinet. He had first made the offer to resign at the cabinet meeting on June 4, owning moral responsibility for the temple lands scam, but the CM had turned down his request.
Again, on June 6, the minister sent in his resignation to the CM, but the later rejected it outright on the ground that his senior colleague had no role in the scandal.
On the same day, the CM announced a judicial inquiry into the issue by a retired high court judge.
On June 17, the portfolio of the minister was changed from Endowments to Sports and Culture after the Congress high command took a serious view of the issue.