Ahmedabad: This babu could well be key for Narendra Modi in strengthening his political alliance if the numbers in the Lok Sabha polls don’t add up in favour of the Gujarat CM.
DK Rao, a Gujarat cadre IAS officer, is likely to be named as YSR Congress candidate from Guntur or Bapatla LS seat.
Rao, who currently serves as member secretary in Gujarat State Human Rights Commission, put in his papers on December 23, 2013 and is lobbying for his voluntary retirement to be cleared at the earliest. He is due to retire in June 2015.
Rao’s father Sangeetha Rao, a Congress leader who owned a string of cinema halls in Andhra Pradesh, was close to former CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
After YSR’s untimely death in a chopper crash, Rao, a Christian, stayed in touch with son Jaganmohan Reddy.
Jagan is keeping Congress and BJP guessing and is unlikely to enter into a pre-poll alliance with any party but would like to be part of a coalition which comes to power.
While TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has become close to Modi, Rao could well swing it in Modi’s favour if numbers don’t add up.
Rao was ‘compulsorily’ retired from service by the Union Ministry of Personnel Affairs for alleged misconduct, but he was reinstated after the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) ruled in his favour in September 2011.
When contacted, Rao confirmed he had put in his papers but refused to comment on his political plans.
Source: TimesOfIndia
