Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The recent floods in Andhra Pradesh have come as a blessing in disguise for Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah.
Thanks to the deluge that left several districts of the state devastated, politics – particularly the campaign for making Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy the Chief Minister – has taken a backseat and helped Rosaiah consolidate his position.
Using his rich administrative and political experience and acumen, Rosaiah handled the crisis well and won the acclaim of his party bosses in New Delhi.
Rosaiah had a distinct advantage. He enjoys a good rapport with all senior bureaucrats, unlike his predecessor, and this helped him implement the disaster management plan in an efficient manner. This helped in mitigating the damage to a significant extent, particularly in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts which faced a greater threat than the worst-hit Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, who conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts in AP, patted the Chief Minister on the back over the disaster management and sent a message yet again to the party rank and file in the state that Rosaiah would continue to hold fort for a long time.
At the same time, the pro-Jagan lobby in the state Congress was caught in a helpless situation as it could not raise the demand for elevating their leader at a time when the state was facing a worst disaster in a century.
After functioning for 32 days from his old chamber – which he occupied as Finance Minister – Rosaiah moved to the Chief Minister’s official chamber in the C-block of the state Secretariat on October 5. This put him, so to say, firmly in the saddle.
Two days later, the Chief Minister shunted out controversial DGP S S P Yadav from the post and brought in an upright officer R R Girish Kumar and also effected changes in the top posts of the state police.
These steps gave firm indications that Rosaiah has settled down in his new position and left behind his insecurities.
Rosaiah, sources close to him say, is expected to meet Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi soon and possibly get her consent for a Cabinet reshuffle. Six slots are currently vacant in the state Cabinet and important portfolios like finance, power, commercial taxes, excise, infrastructure and investment are being held by the Chief Minister himself.
Though he may keep the portfolio with himself, given his expertise in the field, Rosaiah will have to appoint ministers for other departments. Old-timers like K Jana Reddy and J C Diwakar Reddy – whom Rajasekhara Reddy dropped in his second stint – are likely to get into the Cabinet again given their experience and affinity with Rosaiah, Congress sources say.
Rosaiah became the Chief Minister on September 3, a day after Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash. But a group of legislators, led by government Chief Whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, launched a campaign on the same day demanding that Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Jagan be appointed his successor. Many ministers in the Rajasekhara Reddy Cabinet – though retained by Rosaiah – continued to pitch for Jagan and threatened to quit their posts if their demand was not conceded.
Ministers like Konda Surekha, P Ramachandra Reddy, Danam Nagender, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Vatti Vasantha Kumar, Sabita Reddy and Md Ahmadullah were most vociferous in their demand for making Jagan the CM. Rather than attending their officials duties, most of the ministers made it a ritual to meet Rajasekhara Reddy’s close friend K V P Ramachandra Rao on a daily basis and earned the wrath of the Congress high command. It was only after the high command took a serious view of their belligerence that the ministers fell in line.
But still the Jagan lobby continued to engage some first-time MLAs to campaign for Jagan till it apparently reached a flashpoint. Sensing the danger, Jagan himself got into the act and cautioned the legislators against “embarrassing the party high command and Sonia Gandhi.”
Around the same time, unprecedented floods ravaged many districts of the state forcing the Jagan lobbyists to totally give up their campaign.
Rosaiah focused his energies on the disaster management and the entire official machinery rallied behind him in reaching out to the affected people.
Hyderabad: The recent floods in Andhra Pradesh have come as a blessing in disguise for Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah.
Thanks to the deluge that left several districts of the state devastated, politics – particularly the campaign for making Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy the Chief Minister – has taken a backseat and helped Rosaiah consolidate his position.
Using his rich administrative and political experience and acumen, Rosaiah handled the crisis well and won the acclaim of his party bosses in New Delhi.
Rosaiah had a distinct advantage. He enjoys a good rapport with all senior bureaucrats, unlike his predecessor, and this helped him implement the disaster management plan in an efficient manner. This helped in mitigating the damage to a significant extent, particularly in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts which faced a greater threat than the worst-hit Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, who conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts in AP, patted the Chief Minister on the back over the disaster management and sent a message yet again to the party rank and file in the state that Rosaiah would continue to hold fort for a long time.
At the same time, the pro-Jagan lobby in the state Congress was caught in a helpless situation as it could not raise the demand for elevating their leader at a time when the state was facing a worst disaster in a century.
After functioning for 32 days from his old chamber – which he occupied as Finance Minister – Rosaiah moved to the Chief Minister’s official chamber in the C-block of the state Secretariat on October 5. This put him, so to say, firmly in the saddle.
Two days later, the Chief Minister shunted out controversial DGP S S P Yadav from the post and brought in an upright officer R R Girish Kumar and also effected changes in the top posts of the state police.
These steps gave firm indications that Rosaiah has settled down in his new position and left behind his insecurities.
Rosaiah, sources close to him say, is expected to meet Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi soon and possibly get her consent for a Cabinet reshuffle. Six slots are currently vacant in the state Cabinet and important portfolios like finance, power, commercial taxes, excise, infrastructure and investment are being held by the Chief Minister himself.
Though he may keep the portfolio with himself, given his expertise in the field, Rosaiah will have to appoint ministers for other departments. Old-timers like K Jana Reddy and J C Diwakar Reddy – whom Rajasekhara Reddy dropped in his second stint – are likely to get into the Cabinet again given their experience and affinity with Rosaiah, Congress sources say.
Rosaiah became the Chief Minister on September 3, a day after Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash. But a group of legislators, led by government Chief Whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, launched a campaign on the same day demanding that Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Jagan be appointed his successor. Many ministers in the Rajasekhara Reddy Cabinet – though retained by Rosaiah – continued to pitch for Jagan and threatened to quit their posts if their demand was not conceded.
Ministers like Konda Surekha, P Ramachandra Reddy, Danam Nagender, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Vatti Vasantha Kumar, Sabita Reddy and Md Ahmadullah were most vociferous in their demand for making Jagan the CM. Rather than attending their officials duties, most of the ministers made it a ritual to meet Rajasekhara Reddy’s close friend K V P Ramachandra Rao on a daily basis and earned the wrath of the Congress high command. It was only after the high command took a serious view of their belligerence that the ministers fell in line.
But still the Jagan lobby continued to engage some first-time MLAs to campaign for Jagan till it apparently reached a flashpoint. Sensing the danger, Jagan himself got into the act and cautioned the legislators against “embarrassing the party high command and Sonia Gandhi.”
Around the same time, unprecedented floods ravaged many districts of the state forcing the Jagan lobbyists to totally give up their campaign.
Rosaiah focused his energies on the disaster management and the entire official machinery rallied behind him in reaching out to the affected people.
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