Cong mulling a Reddy CM to stop Jaganaut? Bad Choice by congress high command

Independent Media

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

LEADERS ON CONG RADAR: Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy, ministers Geeta Reddy, Ramnarayana Reddy and Sabita Indra Reddy

Hyderabad: The Congress high command, caught between a mild-mannered chief minister K Rosaiah and an aggressive Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, is believed to be working on a grand design to stave off the looming menace to its authority. Central to this plan is the induction of a Reddy chief minister if the Jagan threat continues. 

With the Congress in the state being perceived as a Reddy dominated party, the thinking is that a Reddy alone can act as a counter balance to the growing clout of Jagan. “Reddys by and large are with the party. This is the only group which is numerically strong, cohesive and the party can bank on it for support, financial or otherwise. At present, Reddys alone can lead the party to victory,” said a senior party leader. 

Since there is no visible top Reddy leader around save for Union minister Jaipal Reddy, the party is looking towards the second rung Reddy leadership, who are relatively less controversial and have the potential to lead the party. Sources say that the central party has identified half-adozen people with the potential to become alternative leaders. Top in the list are speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy (from Rayalaseema) and cabinet minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy (from coastal Andhra), and cabinet spokesperson Geeta Reddy. Of these, Kiran Kumar Reddy and Geeta Reddy are in constant touch with the high command. 

According to sources, the high command considered Kiran Kumar Reddy’s name for the CM’s post soon after YSR’s death. 

He was even asked to rush back to Delhi from his foreign tour. An alumni of Hyderabad Public School and son of a former Congress minister, he is in his late forties and thus has age on his side. 

Geeta Reddy who hails from Telangana is a Dalit married to a Reddy. Of late, Geeta Reddy, fluent in English and Urdu, has become closer to the central leadership. “Making her the CM would please Dalits, Reddys and women,” a Congressman said. 

Even though none of them is a match to Jagan in pulling crowds, the party thinks that these leaders could certainly work as shock absorbers for Delhi in the wake of the turbulence generated by him. 

Sources said that off late home minister Sabita Indra Reddy too appears to be in the reckoning for the top job. Although from Telangana and with good organisational abilities her lack of fluency in English or Hindi could prove her stumbling block.

Why some leaders against YSR family: A lead story

Independent Media

YSR: A doctor with a finger on the public pulse

YSR Reddy with principal secretary S Subramanyam on board the ill-fated helicopter on Wednesday. (TOI)

HYDERABAD: A doctor by training, Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy, or YSR as he was popularly known, was known for his strong administrative skills and whose second stint as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh this year broke a 53-year-old jinx for the Congress party.

This May, he became the first Congress chief minister since the state was formed in 1956 to complete a full five-year term and retain power in elections. The only other chief minister who achieved the fate was NT Rama Rao of Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

In Pics: YSR Reddy (1949-2009) 

One of YSR's main achievements was subduing the ultra-left Naxalite insurgency in the state that had one time gripped 21 of its 23 districts. In the process, the People's War Group (PWG), once the dominant Maoist group in India, was crushed beyond recognition.

When he took over as chief minister for the first time on May 14, 2004 from N Chandrababu Naidu of TDP, it was a dream came true for YSR. The leader from the badlands of Rayalaseema had come up the hard way in his public life spanning three decades and emerged as one of the strongest leaders the Congress has produced in the state.

He has always been a winner. Elected to the state assembly for the fifth time, YSR is also a four-time Lok Sabha member and holds the record of never losing an election.

More than once he proved why he was more popular among masses with his fingers on the public pulse.

Popular as 'people's leader' among his followers, YSR tasted success despite facing a hostile poll campaign from both the TDP-led four party Grand Alliance and the Praja Rajyam Party of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi.

YSR also emerged as one of the few leaders in the country to retain power beating the anti-incumbency factor. What has made his performance more creditable is the fact that he made no big promises and instead highlighted his performance versus the "poor credibility record" of his main rival N Chandrababu Naidu of TDP.

Banking on his performance and the numerous welfare schemes his government launched during the last five years, YSR retained power despite a three-cornered contest. The man who ran the Congress campaign on his shoulders emerged victorious in the face of hectic electioneering by top stars of the tinsel world in favour of TDP and Praja Rajyam.

Born to a Christian middle class family at Pulivendula, a small town in Kadapa district, on July 8, 1949, YSR made a modest beginning. Eldest of the five sons of YS Raja Reddy, a dynamic local leader in his heydays, he evinced interests in politics while studying at MR Medical College, Gulbarga, Karnataka.

After completing his MBBS, YSR served as medical officer at the Jammalamadugu Mission Hospital briefly. In 1973, he established a 70-bed charitable hospital.

He entered active politics in 1978 and was elected to the state assembly from Pulivendula. He served as state minister from 1980 to 1983 and retained the assembly seat in 1983 even when NTR swept to power with a historic victory.

Sensing a potential leader in him, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi appointed YSR president of the state unit of Congress when he was only 34.

In 1989, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa and held the seat till 1999, when he shifted again to state politics. From 1998 to 2000, he again served as president of the state Congress.

Though the party lost the 1999 state elections, YSR emerged as the strongest leader of the party and became the leader of opposition.

The year 2003 was a turning point in his political career as he undertook a 64-day padyatra, or walkathon, across the state. Covering 1,500 km under the scorching sun, he received petitions from people about their problems, mainly relating to agriculture and unemployment.

It was this campaign and a strong anti-incumbency wave against Chandrababu Naidu's government which catapulted YSR to power.

His experiences during the padyatra helped him shape his policies after assuming office as he gave free electricity to farmers, waived their loans, introduced several welfare schemes like pension for the aged, widows and handicapped, housing for poor, Rs2-a-kg rice, Rajiv Arogyasri or community health insurance scheme and a massive programme to build irrigation projects.

Thanks to these initiatives, the Congress won 156 of Andhra Pradesh's 294 seats and bagged 33 of its 42 Lok Sabha seats this time.

In a message on Independence Day on Aug 15, Reddy said: "The state has witnessed tremendous growth in the past five years when compared to the growth that took place since independence. Our people are a happier lot and are embracing a bright future without any fears."

some dissident leaders against YSR before and after they are louder to the Congress High command. YSR Death brought them back into active Politics

Congress High command : hand in hand with YSR Son Jagan

Vundavalli’s mission ‘Patch-up Rosaiah and Jagan’

 

Vundavalli Arun Kumar,  is now a man with a mission. Fondly called the loud mouth of the congress party, he is desperately trying to broker peace between YS Jagan MOhan Reddy and Rosaiah at the behest of Sonia Gandhi. According to reports, the congress High Command has unofficially deputed him to cool down the tensions between Jagan and Rosaiah as he is with both the parties.

In this process, he is probably one of the few congress leaders who came in support of Jagan and claimed that the issue between Jagan and Rosaiah is very small.

This move by the Congress High Command comes as a relief for Jagan, for it indicates that Sonia Gandhi has not lost her faith in Jagan.

According Sources Congress High Command is well awre of all the Opponents of slained leader Dr YSR and their tactis over the tall leaders family.

in the past Congress nevel left any family un attended who shed thier blood for the party cause. it was Dr YSR who was the back bone of resurgence of Congress I in all south states in particular with AP after PV Narsimharao, Kotal vijay bhasker reddy who indirectly helped TDP to come to power.

it was PV narsimharao who allowed NTR down fall and raise of NCB Naidu.

Sonia to stay away from Andhra Congress politics

All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi has taken a conscious decision of being neutral to Andhra Pradesh politics in the wake of the sudden demise of its chief minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy, and wait for a three-member committee to brief her. Till such time, she is not likely to meet any leader from the state.
Congress will set up a three-member committee comprising of Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Veerappa Moily and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh to work out a formula on the present crisis in Andhra Pradesh.

In order to gain time, the high command spoke to the three top leaders -- Pranab in London, Digvijay Singh, who was in Hyderabad, and Veerappa Moily in Delhi -- to have an informal meeting to chalk out the possible solution to the Andhra impasse.

Once the mourning period is over on Wednesday, the three-member panel is likely to meet in Delhi to take stock of the situation and later, if warranted, the committee members may visit Hyderabad.

YSR at Full Josh