Kiran Reddy meets Sonia

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy today held consultations with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the issue of selecting a deputy chief minister and the political situation in the state in the wake of YS Jaganmohan Reddy's exit from the party.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday held consultations with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the issue of selecting a deputy chief minister and the political situation in the state in the wake of YS Jaganmohan Reddy's exit from the party.

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Reddy, who succeeded K Rosaiah as chief minister last month, and Gandhi are understood to have decided on the nominees for the posts of deputy chief minister and Speaker.

This is Reddy's first meeting with Gandhi after he constituted his cabinet last week, which trigerred rebellion with some of his colleagues sending their resignations over allocation of portfolio.

However, this was sorted out after the High Command's intervention.

The Congress chief and Chief Minister also discussed the political situation in the state in the wake of Jagan's exit from Congress and the Justice Srikrishna Committee saying it would submit its report on the separate Telangana statehood issue by the end of this month.

But, there was no official word on the meeting.

Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel was also present during the 45-minute meeting that is also understood to have touched upon governance issues in the state.

Ways to sort out the rebellion in the state unit may have also come up, sources said.

Senior leader J Geetha Reddy's name tops the list of probables for the deputy chief minister's post. This is seen as part of the Congress' Telangana package ahead of the report.

Prior to his meeting with Gandhi, Reddy held consultations with Patel. He also met Law Minister Veerappa Moily later.