AP: Shankar Rao urged to keep quiet

HYDERABAD: Members of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) executive committee urged senior Congress MLA and former minister P Shankar Rao to try to enhance the image of the party while addressing media conferences from the CLP office.The executive committee emergency meeting at the CLP office here on Wednesday was attended by six MLAs and three MLCs.The meeting discussed minister DL Ravindra Reddy and P Shankar Rao criticising the government and the chief minister frequently from the CLP forum.The meeting said all the Congress members should obtain permission from the CLP secretary for media conferences and should not speak on state bifurcation issue from the CLP office.Before the meeting, the members spoke to Shankar Rao and urged him to maintain silence at least for one month.They claimed that Rao responded positively and they hoped that others too would not cross the party line.After the meeting, MLA K Laxma Reddy locked the press conference room and left the CLP office.Shankar Rao did not visit the CLP office on Wednesday, which came as a great relief for the executive committee members.Earlier, while disclosing the meeting details to media, government chief whip Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy said if any member crosses the party line, party high command will be urged to initiate disciplinary action.“If any one has differences with the chief minister or PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana, they can discuss with party high command or party incharge for the state, but should not express their opinion before the media,” he said.He urged all the MLAs and MLCs to take active part in the poll campaign for one LS and 18 Assembly seats.Reddy reacted strongly to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s comments that Congress should change the name of party headquarters from Gandhi Bhavan to Brandy Bhavan.“If Naidu does not stop such comments he should be ready to taste the ire of Congress workers,” he said.