09-05-2009, 03:05 AM
<b>Search begins for YSR's successor, Son Jagan, NTR daughter Purandeswari, Jaipal in race</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Talk has begun of YSRâs son, Jaganmohan Reddy donning the mantle of his father as the new helmsman of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh.
Others in the race are S Jaipal Reddy, a seasoned war horse in his early sixties and Daggupati Puranderswari, daughter of TDP founder, NTR, who made it big in the Congress. Dharamvarapu Srinivas, PCC President and state finance minister Konijeti Rosaiah are also being talked about among the A-list of likely successors. The Congress legislature Party is likely to meet on Monday after the period of state mourning end.
Srinivas has been in the race for the CMâs post even when YSR was around. A leader of backward classes, his handicap is however the fact he had lost the assembly election. He also had come under a cloud because of the activities of his son. Rosaiah is filling the void created by YSRâs death as interim chief minister. A seasoned politician who hails from the powerful merchant community, Rosaiah is an old timer, in his late seventies. Age is being held against him, Also his short temper.
Jaipal Reddy, who like YSR graduated in the Congress through Youth Congress, is a natural choice for the post of chief minister. He is erudite, Nehruvian, and non-controversial. He hails from Telangana where there is a demand for separate state. Well known nationally, he made Delhi his political theatre since the eighties after a stint in the state assembly. Emergency saw him join the opposition led by Jaya Prakash Narain. He returned to the Congress in 2004. To his credit, Jaipal never projected himself.
Right at the moment, Jagan, as Jagmohan Reddy is known, appears as front runner, going by the mounting pressure on the Congress high command from the cadres in the state. His plus is that he is very young, in early thirties. He is an industrialist, first term Parliamentarian, and a news paper magnet, who owns Sakshi TV and Telugu daily by the same title. Controversies have been dogging him in the recent past.
Many Congress leaders in the state hold the view that Jagan would be a natural heir to YSR legacy. A large section of party MLAs are personally known to him. In fact, some sources said that Jagan was instrumental in getting party ticket to some of these law makers.
It is to be seen how the Congress high command will react to the campaign. In case, Jagan is anointed as the next chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, it would herald the beginning of new dynasty politics in the state, and another regional dynasty in the Congress party.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Talk has begun of YSRâs son, Jaganmohan Reddy donning the mantle of his father as the new helmsman of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh.
Others in the race are S Jaipal Reddy, a seasoned war horse in his early sixties and Daggupati Puranderswari, daughter of TDP founder, NTR, who made it big in the Congress. Dharamvarapu Srinivas, PCC President and state finance minister Konijeti Rosaiah are also being talked about among the A-list of likely successors. The Congress legislature Party is likely to meet on Monday after the period of state mourning end.
Srinivas has been in the race for the CMâs post even when YSR was around. A leader of backward classes, his handicap is however the fact he had lost the assembly election. He also had come under a cloud because of the activities of his son. Rosaiah is filling the void created by YSRâs death as interim chief minister. A seasoned politician who hails from the powerful merchant community, Rosaiah is an old timer, in his late seventies. Age is being held against him, Also his short temper.
Jaipal Reddy, who like YSR graduated in the Congress through Youth Congress, is a natural choice for the post of chief minister. He is erudite, Nehruvian, and non-controversial. He hails from Telangana where there is a demand for separate state. Well known nationally, he made Delhi his political theatre since the eighties after a stint in the state assembly. Emergency saw him join the opposition led by Jaya Prakash Narain. He returned to the Congress in 2004. To his credit, Jaipal never projected himself.
Right at the moment, Jagan, as Jagmohan Reddy is known, appears as front runner, going by the mounting pressure on the Congress high command from the cadres in the state. His plus is that he is very young, in early thirties. He is an industrialist, first term Parliamentarian, and a news paper magnet, who owns Sakshi TV and Telugu daily by the same title. Controversies have been dogging him in the recent past.
Many Congress leaders in the state hold the view that Jagan would be a natural heir to YSR legacy. A large section of party MLAs are personally known to him. In fact, some sources said that Jagan was instrumental in getting party ticket to some of these law makers.
It is to be seen how the Congress high command will react to the campaign. In case, Jagan is anointed as the next chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, it would herald the beginning of new dynasty politics in the state, and another regional dynasty in the Congress party.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->