Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan on Friday made light of the criticism that he was crossing “Lakshman Rekha” by meeting AICC president Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders, saying “it is natural in public life”.
Responding to questions from media persons at New Delhi, he said he spoke about State related matters and nothing else with Ms. Gandhi. “When we are in public service, we have to face such criticism”.
Denying that he had differences with the Chief Minister, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, he was dismissive of media reports that he had submitted a report on the latter to the AICC president.
Mr. Narasimhan said he had not discussed with AICC leaders anything about the all-party meeting on Telangana issue slated on December 28. “Only (Union) Home Minister will talk about such issues”, he quipped. There was nothing special about his visit. He said he met the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on Friday.
Asked about the Union Tribal Welfare Minister, Kishore Chandra Dev’s letter on bauxite mining project in Visakhapatnam, he wanted media persons to enquire about it with the Chief Minister.
On the status of the file pertaining to granting of permission for the prosecution of the Minister, Dharmana Prasada Rao, he said it was still under his consideration. He said he had not seen the file yet and that there was no time limit to take a decision on it.
