President rule? What President rule?

HYDERABAD: “Why should there be president’s rule? What are the conditions needed to justify president’s rule?” asked chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy as he responded to a volley of questions from media personnel after he emerged from his meeting with M/s Pranab, Mukherjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidambaram and A K Antony in New Delhi on Saturday.Amid the hurly burly of the Telangana consultations in the national capital on Saturday, one of the questions that invited relentless speculatio was whether or not the Centre will decided to go in for direct rule because of the administrative gridlock in A P.When asked the question, both Kiran Kumar Reddy and Congress’ AP point man Azad responded with counter-questions. “Where is the question of president’s rule? What is the need for it?”Talking to newsmen after meeting senior ministers, the chief minister said he had been invited to give his view of the Telangana question. But he refused to disclose the details of his submission. “That is  confidential,’ he said. “It’s only for the central leaders to know.”He only said he had urged them to come out with a solution that would be in the interests of all people of Andhra Pradesh. “I have come here to discuss the happenings taking place in the state and also to inform them about the people’s aspirations in Andhra Pradesh. Leaders of the Central government are busy trying to find an amicable solution to the issue and are having wider consultations. I gave them my opinion,” he said.Kiran Kumar Reddy refused to discuss his government’s handling of the Telangana strike currently paralysing the administration in the state. He said had made several appeals to the government employees to call off their stir but the larger Telangana issue was not an issue that could be resolved by him.