Don't call me 'Minister'

Dr P Shankar Rao is either not happy with his portfolio or afraid of being shunted out from the Kiran Kumar Reddy’s cabinet soon. But it seems that the Minister, whose letter to the AP High Court resulted in CBI launching probe into Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy’s alleged illegal assets, is mentally preparing himself for the vagaries of politics.

On Friday, Dr P Shankar Rao objected when the reporters addressed him as Mr Minister. He insisted that he must be referred as ‘Doctor’ or ‘Sir’, but not ‘Minister’. “Minister’s post is not permanent,” he said while addressing a press conference at the Congress Legislature Party Office.

Dr Shankar Rao’s statement assumes importance in view of reports that the Chief Minister K Niran Kumar Reddy is trying to reshuffle his Cabinet by taking approval from the high command.

Meanwhile, Shankar Rao informed that he would write a letter to Governor ESL Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking probe into irregularities in allotment of lands in Nanakramguda, on the outskirts of Hyderabad. He appealed to government to probe into irregularities in allotment of lands from 2004 to 2009.

The Minister said that the lands were taken forcibly from the farmers in the name of industrialization and for conducting Formula One races. Although the Formula One project was shelved long back, about 2,000 acres of land was not returned to farmers. He said that the House committee appointed by Assembly on land allotments in the capital has not submitted its report so far.