Rat race on for CM's post in Telangana state

HYDERABAD: Following the Centre's efforts to accord statehood to Telangana, hitherto politically dormant Congress leaders in the region are becoming active.

Though nobody really knows whether the Congress high command's efforts to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh will materialise or not before 2014 polls, every passing day is witnessing a leader from the T-Congress camp shouting from the rooftops in support of T-state, indicating that he is aiming for a bigger role in the new state.

The latest example is the vice-chairman of National Disaster Management Authority, Marri Sashidhar Reddy.

The Sanathnagar MLA, who never spoke in support of state bifurcation publicly till recently, has now started supporting Telangana statehood. He is not only backing T-state but also trying to debunk the argument of his Seemandhra peers that dividing AP would lead to political instability.

Reddy's latest meeting with the Congress lawmakers from the region, held here on Saturday and Sunday, passed a resolution urging the Centre to insert a provision in the T-bill to increase the number of Assembly seats from the existing 119 to 153 in order to establish a 'politically stable' government in the new state.

It is being seen in the T-Congress circles as an attempt by the senior Congress man to project himself as a contender for the top post.

Union minister P Balaram Naik, who was also present at the meeting, told reporters that Sashidhar Reddy is a potential candidate for the post of the first CM of T-state.

'Being the son of former CM Marri Chenna Reddy, who had led the T-movement decades ago, Sashidhar Reddy is eligible in every aspect to become the CM,' Naik said. Though Sashidhar Reddy never claimed that he was aspiring for the CM's post in the new state, his sudden political activeness has become a point of discussion in Congress circles.

When asked about his sudden interest on the T-issue, Sashidhar Reddy said all these days he was silently putting in efforts at the AICC level to accord statehood to Telangana. He, however, said he was not aspiring to be the CM of the T-state.

Incidentally, soon after the Cabinet nod for T-state, Union minister S Jaipal Reddy, whose interest used to be in national politics till a few days ago, has begun concentrating on state politics and spending time in Hyderabad.

When some T-Congress seniors were trying to read between the lines in Jaipal's deeds, he divulged other day that he had already decided what role he would play in the T-state. Recalling the services of YB Chavan, the first CM of Maharashtra after the division of Bombay state, Jaipal said he too would play a similar role.

Following the Congress veteran's sudden interest in state politics, the buzz in party circles is that Jaipal is also trying to position himself for the chief minister's post.

Another Union minister Sarve Satyanarayana has also thrown his hat into the ring. He 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 chair. There seems to be a rat race among T-Cong leaders to become the first CM of T-state.

Even as former PCC chief D Srinivas, panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy and deputy chief minister C Damodara Rajanarasihma are being seen as possible candidates for the top post, several others like ministers D Sridhar Babu, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and DK Aruna, and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao are also said to have started lobbying for the coveted position.

Minister V Sunitha Lakshma Reddy said if their high command made Kanna and D Srinivas as the CMs of Seemandhra and Telangana respectively, she would welcome that development.