Even as the Congress high command was refusing to be pressured into taking any decision that could be interpreted as either succumbing to the demands of the YSR camp or acting against it, the natural disaster in Andhra Pradesh has unexpectedly come to the aid of the central Congress leadership. The campaign for Jagan Mohan Reddy as chief minister has got sidelined by the massive floods in the state.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi was in Hyderabad on Monday from where she flew to flood-hit regions. But unlike in the past, she did not face any banners or crowds seeking Jagan Mohan?s ascension to the top post in the state which less than a fortnight back had seen an orchestrated YSR frenzy.
The Congress president only met chief minister K Rosaiah during her short tour of a few hours to the state in which she was accompanied by Union home minister P Chidambaram and law minister Veerappa Moily, who is also the party general secretary in charge of the state.
Asserting that Jagan Mohan?s chances of replacing incumbent K Rosaiah as chief minister have declined, a central minister contended that the fan following among the MLAs for YSR?s son has also dwindled. ?It was possible that the MLAs might have followed Jagan Mohan, to even split the party, in the first 15 days after YSR?s death. Now it is too late ?, he said.
Indications that Rosaiah can breathe more easily also came from another incident on Monday. The veteran leader, who has been functioning from his old finance ministry office in the state secretariat for the last one month after being sworn in as chief minister, finally moved into the chief minister?s office.
