AP CONGRESS MEN HAVE RECONCILED

Dr K Prabhakar Rao

The euphoria that swarmed the congress men in the state at the death of the CM Mr. YS Rajsekhar Reddy has died. No doubt the late CM enjoyed clout among the congress men in the state and was managing the show well . Although Congress came back to power in the state, the margin with which it won was not encouraging. Bickerings in TRS party, and emerging of Praja rajyam has eaten into the votes of Telugu desam and the result was that congress came back to power again. It is like two cats fighting for a piece of bread and a monkey snatches it from them finally. Telugu desam still has great clout and is a serious contender in the state. Death of YSR is no doubt a serious blow for congress in the state.

The sad part of the show was that some congress leaders started yelling that Jagan the son of CM YSR should be made the CM of the state even before the body of the late CM was cremated, rather recovered from the site. What is their interest in this? Jagan has entered politics during past elections and won seat to parliament on congress ticket from a safe place in Royalaseema that is a strong hold for YSR. Politics in India, rather in AP too thrive on family name and dynastic traditions. YSR is no exception. AP congress party too has its own problems. There are many senior leaders in the party who have been waiting to become CM. Unfortunately they did not succeed. There are people like Kesava Rao, Hanumanth Rao, Satya Narayana, Srinivas, and some more who are waiting in wings. Mnay claim that luck did not favor them. Many shed tears at their inability to sit in the CMs seat. Although they are not vocal they look at the situation( although very sad) favorable for a change. Rosiah who was the old veteran and was nominated as CM immediately after death of CM to fill the void. The clamoring for making Jagan CM of the state reached great heights and some actors in the game shuttled between Delhi and Hyderabad in desperate bid to influence the high command. But alas! They could not see writing on the wall. The main disadvantage against Jagan was lack of experience for running the state. The Congress leaders( Supporters of Jagan) claim that it was not a matter and he would learn soon. It may be true that they are highly committed to late YSR and the blind faith and commitment has made them to clamour for Jagan. The high command had seen this as a temporary phenomenon that would soften soon. The saddest part is that the way the congress leaders demonstrated and organized shows reveals lack of maturity in the party. Many critics demand the reason for making the son of YSR the CM. How can they believe that no experience is required to be in that chair? Is it not necessary to have a seasoned leader as the CM of the state who can command respect from the opposition groups too? Therefore in the trying circumstances Congress high command has zeroed on Rosiah the aged politician in the cabinet. Although he has own limitations, he is still far better choice at the moment. The various leaders in the state congress party who are aspiring had their own problems and probably are on the back benches all these years. None would make. Any amount of crying by the Jagan group could not make dent into high command at Delhi. The point has now gone home clearly that present CM is the permanent one( atlesat in near future) and it is sure that no change would be accepted by congress high command. Thus we see that the shouting party in congress in the state have mellowed down and one of the most vocal member stated that whether it is Mr Rosiah or Jagan it does not matter and YSRs plans woud be materializing. What a change indeed? How they changed colors? The usual trick in congress politics is to shout and press the center. When they fail they withdraw into cacoon. The shouting brigade while clamouring for change of Rosiah to install Jagan also make it a point that they would abide by high commands decision, thus playing safe. None of these people have real courage to stand against the high command. Can the congress men in state go against high command and elect their leader by holding a CLP meeting in a democratic way? Probably they will not. Ground will shake under their feet. Thus all the members of the shouting brigade have fallen in line and the ministers who were not cooperating with Rosiah will also behave now. Or soon axe will fall on them. They also know it. Thus the drama in AP Politics has ended and Rosiah would steer the state in years to come. Let us hope with his experience and maturity he would turn into a good leader and win confidence from the opposition leaders too. He was in the previous cabinet as Finanace minister and is known to have bad temper at times. He even commented that he would take and tear off the arm of an opposition leader in anger. Such type of comments were uncalled and as CM much saner conduct would be expected from him and surely he would do. Best of luck to him. Jagan has many years in front of him and as an MP he should demonstrate his abilities to emerge as a strong leader in future instead of trying to occupy the chair for which he is not ready. Unfortunately politics is a dirty area and no one is a friend and foe. All are opportunists in this game. When lime light is over we have to see how many of the shouting brigade would be really with him. Time only would tell this. There are sayings in Telugu that ants will collect when Ghud ( Bellam) is there. Rats are the first to run away from a sinking ship. Answers are in the questions.

Dr K Prabhakar Rao