Congress legislators in Andhra Pradesh are pressing ahead with their informal meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday, to reiterate their demand to make Jaganmohan Reddy the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after the tragic death of his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in spits of the party high command expressing its displeasure over the campaign.
Congress leader Bhatti Vikramarka, the government chief whip, has claimed that the campaign for Jaganmohan Reddy has the support of 148 of the 156 Members of Legislative Assembly and almost all the party's Members of Parliament from the state. The meeting, which is being seen as a move to demonstrate the strength of the group which wants Jaganmohan to become the next chief minister, is likely to pass a resolution reiterating its demand.
The state Congress MPs Forum convenor Ponnam Prabhakar has also come out in support of Jaganmohan's candidature. State Minister K Venkat Reddy has put forward an interesting argument in favour of Jagan. "In the recent elections, the people gave a verdict in favour of YSR and to respect that verdict, Jaganmohan Reddy should be made the chief minister," he has said.
Several other ministers like Raghuveera Reddy, Konda Surekha, Anam Ramnarayana Reddy and D Nagender have also made a similar demand. State Rural Development Minister Vasantha Kumar has warned that the Congress' state unit may split if Jaganmohan is not made the CM.
Union Law Minister and All India Congress Committee General Secretary in-charge of AP affairs Veerappa Moily has tried to defuse the situation by stating that this was the time for mourning, not for making political demands. He has indicated that the party will take a decision on YSR's successor within the next ten days.
According to sources, the party high command was perturbed by the undue haste by some YSR loyalists to thrust Jaganmohan Reddy into the spotlight and it was waiting for the right time to reprimand these leaders.
The high command was of the view that while Jaganmohan Reddy, 36, was a promising young leader, he did not have the political or administrative experience to become the CM.
Sources said that as the Congress had won in the recent state polls by a comfortable margin and would not have to face an immediate electoral battle, it would prefer to appoint senior party leader K Rosaiah as the CM. While the pro-Jaganmohan group may try to argue that Rosaiah belongs to the relatively small Vysya community, the party leadership may use the forthcoming elections in other states to delay any decision.
Incidentally, Rosaiah is trying to his best to indicate that he is not willing to stand in the way of Jaganmohan's aspirations to become the CM. The caretaker chief minister has decided not to move in to the 'C' Block chambers, which was used by YS Rajasekhara Reddy, and continues to function from his chambers in J Block, which he occupied as the finance minister.
Meanwhile, J C Diwakar Reddy, one of the five legislators who are against Jaganmohan, has clarified that he was not in the race for the leadership but wanted the matter to be decided by the high command. Diwakar Reddy, a strongman from Anantapur in Rayala Seema, was not inducted into the cabinet by YSR in his second term.
Image: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi consoling YSR's son Jaganmohan Reddy in Hyderabad
Photograph: SnapsIndia
