Amid indications that he may have to play his role as chief trouble-shooter for Congress, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee suggested that the party would wait for the emotional upsurge over Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's sudden death to subside before taking a decision on the leadership issue.
With YSR loyalists pressing for Jaganmohan Reddy to be made chief minister in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress leader is careful about being non-commital on the sensitive issue by not ruling out any probablity. He fended off questions on whether Jagan could be a chief ministerial nominee.
Speaking on the issue at an interaction with women journalists at IWPC on Friday, Mukherjee, said, "It is not a major issue. It is unfortunate that Andhra Pradesh has lost a tall leader and chief minister... there is an emotional upsurge there... and I do hope that it will be possible for the leadership to find a way out for CLP to choose their next leader. It may take longer but it will be resolved. Nothing has been decided yet."
The party does not want to take a decision in a hurry as it admits the "emotional upsurge" needs to ebb before taking a final call on the situation. The party is also keen to allow MLAs to decide on who will be the chief minister, an exercise which will see a party emissary seeking the view of the legislators.
While the situation may be complicated, central party leaders are hoping that the matter can be resolved within a week and not drag on for more.
Congress seems to have adopted a two-pronged strategy by trying to persuade Jagan to accept the party high command's decision while sounding tough about Rosaiah continuing as CM.
"There is nothing called a caretaker chief minister - a CM is a CM," party spokesman Manish Tiwari told reporters. Asked about the possibility of a new CM being inducted, he pointed out that "there is a chief minister and a Cabinet which has taken oath".
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