Alone at the top,Rosaiah a troubled CM

Konijeti Rosaiah,76,the man who succeeds Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy,may have never dreamt of becoming the Chief Minister of the state....

Konijeti Rosaiah,76,the man who succeeds Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy,may have never dreamt of becoming the Chief Minister of the state that he has served for more than 40 years. Having lost his close friend and confidant of more than 30 years,he is now wearing a crown that has only left him alone and alienated.

As 34 ministers of the erstwhile Cabinet were being sworn in,Rosaiah was alone in the crowd,looking troubled and lost in thought. He knows that a majority of the ministers reluctantly agreed to be ministers in his Cabinet. He knows he cannot command their loyalty and respect like YSR,and they are simply obeying the Congress high command.

He had refused to contest the 2009 elections, saying he wanted to take a break and retire,but YSR nominated him to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council and also made him the Finance Minister.

Torn between instructions to take over as interim CM and the popular demand that YSRs son Jaganmohan be given his fathers mantle,Rosaiah remarked immediately after taking oath on Thursday that he was only obeying the instructions of the party high command. I am not in the race for the CMs post. I do not want it. Jagan is young,is extremely popular and he has a huge following. I will abide by whatever the party says, he said on Friday before YSRs funeral.

Though he handled the crisis that the state was plunged into when YSRs chopper was declared missing,he was already alone. As the Cabinet meeting started at 2 pm on Thursday on the fourth floor of the Secretariat to pass a condolence resolution,down below MPs,MLAs and Congress leaders were already demanding that Jaganmohan be made the next CM.

The demonstrations,protests,and hunger strikes by lakhs of people across the state,and threats issued by many Congressmen that they would resign only made it more difficult for Rosaiah to accept the post.

He knows he is not even a patch on YSR. Jaganmohan has more supporters than him. He knows all this and that is what is weighing him down. But he is level-headed,a very senior Congressmen and the state needs him at this time, says veteran political observer I V Rao.

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Though 17 years senior to YSR,Rosaiah Finance Minister in YSRs Cabinet in both terms from 2004 till last Wednesday played second fiddle to his younger friend. He is the seniormost leader in successive Congress governments since 1979 and holds the record for presenting 15 budgets in Congress regimes.

It is not that he never fancied his chance to become the CM. But he was not that ambitious. He was overlooked after M Chenna Reddys first term although several MLAs wanted him as the CM. He was content with being the Finance Minister in YSRs Cabinet, says APCC vice-president S Indrasena Reddy.