AP: Kiran beats Ravindra at his own game

HYDERABAD: If Thursday was the day of the dissidents, Friday was the day of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. The chief minister took the wind out of the sails of health and family welfare minister DL Ravindra Reddy by making prohibition and excise minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana say that he did not think he was made a scapegoat in the developments that led to the revelation of his name in the ACB records that he received Rs 10 lakh kick backs from a syndicate organiser.
Venkata Ramana, speaking with mediapersons here on Friday, said that though he was thankful to Ravindra Reddy for supporting him in the hour of crisis, he did not agree with his contention that the chief minister had made him a sacrificial lamb in his scheme of things. Venkata Ramana's observation is being viewed as Kiran Kumar Reddy's style of cutting his dissidents down to size.A sulking Ravindra Reddy did not stir out of his residence as he was suffering from "fever". He did not turn up either for the meeting of ministers called by the chief minister to discuss the government strategy in the Assembly.