Hyderabad, September 03: Konijeti Rosaiah had always been comfortable playing second-fiddle in state politics over the years but now finds himself ill at ease in the hot seat of power as Chief Minister with problems staring at his face–dissidence spearheaded by Jaganmohan Reddy and the Telangana problem–to mention only a few.
As he himself noted a few days ago, it had indeed been a ‘tight rope walk’ for Rosaiah pitch-forked into the Chief Minister’s post a year ago when Y S Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash, given the pulls and pressures from different quarters.
From a rather strong situation, the state has plunged into a vulnerable position in just one year because of various factors, beginning with the tragic death of a powerful Chief Chief Minister.
The ruling Congress is in total mess; the strife over the demand for bifurcation of the state has only gone into a pause mode and threatens to snowball in the months to come; the state is still facing the economic problems and governance has become the biggest casualty.
77-year-old Rosaiah himself is plagued by health problems, raising questions over his leadership of government.
Rosaiah ascended the Chief Minister’s throne on September 3 last year following the death of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash on September 2.
It took more than three months for him to actually settle down in the new position and take control of the situation as the state moved from one crisis to the other.
By the time he could gain a grip on the administration, the Chief Minister was confronted with trouble from within his party in the form of a virtual rebellion from Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who set his eyes on the Chief Minister’s chair.
Though he left the Jagan issue to be handled by the Congress high command, Rosaiah could not breathe easy as he was not given the complete authority to rule, unlike his predecessor.
Everyone initially acknowledged that Rosaiah, given his vast political experience, was an ‘able administrator’ but not a popular leader. But now, given the sorry state of affairs, his credentials as an administrator too are at stake, political observers say.
Bureaucrats say there has been a lack of cohesiveness in the administration in the last one year.
“Administration had become CM-centric when both N Chandrababu Naidu and Y S Rajasekhara Reddy were at the helm of affairs. Being powerful leaders, their writ ran large and the entire administration functioned according to their diktats.
–Agencies