I'am not in the CM's race: Jaipal Reddy

Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy today said he was not in the race to succeed K Rosaiah as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, even as he met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee before he left for Hyderabad to attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting.

Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy today said he was not in the race to succeed K Rosaiah as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, even as he met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee before he left for Hyderabad to attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting.

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Reddy said no political significance should be attached to his meeting with Pranab as it was to do with a function of his ministry.

68-year-old Jaipal Reddy, seen as a contender for the Chief Minister's post, met Mukherjee at his North Block office.

Later, Mukherjee and a battery of heavyweight leaders like A K Antony, Veerappa Moily and Ghulam Nabi Azad left for Hyderabad to attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting this evening to elect a new leader.

Emerging from the 20-minute meeting, Jaipal Reddy said: "Politics was not discussed... I came to invite him for a function of my ministry (Urban Development). Asked whether he was in the Chief Minister's race, he said: "I was never in the race and will never be."