Five in race for Dy CM's post

There is a hectic lobbying among Congress leaders of  Telangana for the post of Deputy Chief Minister.

With  Chief Minister  K. Rosaiah in Delhi  to hold discussions with the High Command regarding the Cabinet expansion, hectic lobbying is taking place.

The Chief Minister is making a careful  move in this case and playing his cards  close to his chest. Keeping the leader's age factor and health in mind, the deputy to the CM should be able to succeed him in the event of an unforeseen eventuality.

At the moment, five contenders are in the race for the Deputy Chief Minister's post. The one in the forefront is Marri Sasidhar Reddy (Rosaiah's favourite), Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Jana Reddy, Damodar Reddy and Geetha Reddy.

Personally , the CM is in favour of Marri Sasidhar Reddy, but there are pressures from other sections too.

During his proposed meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Rosaiah is expected to rake up a reshuffle in his Council of Ministers amid speculation that the chief minister might drop at least six to eight of his  colleagues. They were seen sither as too loyal to late YS Rajasekhara Reddy's son and Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy or found lacking in enough drive to discharge their official duties.

As such, there are nine vacant slots in the Cabinet which have to be filled. Who fits into the slots will only be clear only after the leader cames back from Delhi.