Rosaiah to be elected CLP chief

The much-awaited Congress Legislature Party meeting to elect a new leader will be held on Friday.
It is no secret that the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, will be elected as CLP leader, but in the time-honoured tradition, the CLP will pass a single-line resolution authorising the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to name the successor to the late Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
The Congress high command decided to hold the CLP meeting even as
the results of the GHMC polls came in and also deputed the Union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and the Union law minister, Mr Veerappa Moily, to attend it.
As is the Congress routine, the observers will inform the Congress president on the single-line resolution and then return to the meeting to disclose her choice.
The decision to hold the CLP meeting on Friday came as a surprise to the state leaders as the PCC president, Mr D. Srinivas, had said the other day that it would be held only after elections to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of Hyderabad on December 4.
Mr Rosaiah’s position would be strengthened once he is elected as CLP leader. He is expected to name one minister from his Cabinet as leader of the Assembly.
Mrs Gandhi has already started addressing the vexed succession issue in the state by choosing Ms Vijayalakshmi, wife of late YSR, as candidate for the Pulivendula bypoll.
She also reportedly told YSR’s son, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, that he has to wait for the Chief Minister’s post and allow Mr Rosaiah to continue for a reasonable length of time.
In fact, Mr Jagan is also expected to attend the CLP meeting and is likely to propose the name of Mr Rosaiah.