What if a Telangana state is still on paper? The race to be the first Chief Minister of the fledgling state is well and truly on. Prominent T leaders are falling over one another to make it to the good books of the Congress high command so that their names figure first when a decision on the all-important post is taken.
The bifurcation report is still being given final touches by the Group of Ministers (GOM) and the Telangana bill is yet to reach the Cabinet.
Still the leaders who comprise about half a dozen state ministers, two Central ministers and one former APCC chief can barely conceal their ambitions. The final report of the GoM as well as the AP Reorganization Bill, 2013, will be submitted to the Union Cabinet on December 4.
The most visible among the lot is Union Minister for Science and Technology S Jaipal Reddy. He has emerged as the hot favourite for the CM’s post as he is the senior-most among the Telangana leaders. Till the Congress Working Committee took the decision to divide the state, Jaipal Reddy used to stay in Delhi, and rarely come to Hyderabad and take part in Telangana related activities. Rather the Telengana leaders used to call on him for guidance.
The change came after July 30, the day the CWC announced its T decision. Since then he has been in the forefront, taking active part in programmes organised by the Telangana Congress leaders. When asked what role he was going to play in Telanganga, he said cryptically that it would be similar to what Y B Chavan, the first chief minister of Maharashtra did, implying that he was confident of becoming the first chief minister of the state.
But he has competition in the form of Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and Pancahayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy who have been in the race for quite some time now.
M Shashidhar Reddy, vice-chairman of National Disaster Management Authority could emerge the dark horse. He suddenly made his appearance in Hyderabad, talking to MLAs and ministers from Telangana on the need to increase the number of Assembly seats in the region from 119 to 153 to impart greater political stability to the state. His effort is being seen in the T-Congress circles as an attempt by the senior leader to project himself as the possible contender for the top post.
Adding another name was Union Minister P Balaram Naik. “Being the son of former chief minister Marri Chenna Reddy, who had contributed a lot for the T-movement, Sashidhar Reddy is eligible in every aspect to become the Chief Minister of the new state,” Naik said.
Another Union Minister Sarve Satyanarayana has also thrown his hat into the ring. Satyanarayana recently said he would not be able to decline the offer of CM’s post, if his party chief Sonia Gandhi asked him to occupy the post. He is aspiring for the post since he claims his Madiga community has been under-represented in the government for quite a long time.
Several other leaders such as former APCC chief D Srinivas, ministers D Sridhar Babu, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and D K Aruna, and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao are also said to have begun efforts to be in the reckoning when the appointed hour comes.
No comments:
Post a Comment