Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is currently touring different parts of Andhra Pradesh to assess the political situation and prospects for the party has kicked off a major political storm by announcing that Telangana will have a Dalit as the first Chief Minister.
Jairam Ramesh told a meeting of Congress leaders and workers in Karimnagar that it was the dream of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to have a Dalit as the Chief Minister of Telangana. “The very objective of carving out Telangana State was to achieve social justice and only a Dalit Chief Minister will make it possible”.
While the remark was generally seen as an attempt to corner TRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao who was apparently backtracking from his promise of installing a Dalit as the Chief Minister of Telangana State, it has also left many Congress leaders of other castes in jitters.
Specially the leaders belonging to the powerful Reddy community were taken aback by Ramesh’s utterance. Reddys who have traditionally been dominating Congress party in Andhra Pradesh were once again eyeing the CM’s post of Telangana. Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy and former Minister K Jana Reddy were among the frontrunners. The Reddy leaders point out that there were as many as 23 Reddy among the 50 MlAs of Congress from Telangana region.
K Chandrashekhar Rao, who in the initial flush of Telangana struggle had declared that his party will make a Dalit the first Chief Minister of Telangana, has developed a cold feet and was sending feelers around that he would like to be the first Chief Minister of the new State. Rao belongs to Velama, another land owning community and is now attracting criticism from weaker sections that he was trying to bring back the “Dora” (feudal) rule.
But the race among the different political parties to woo the weaker sections seems to have queered the pitch for Reddys and Velamas. Telugu Desam Party, facing the threat of extinction in Telangana has promised to make a BC leader the Chief Minister. It was an attempt by TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu to woo the BCs, who constituted a significant part of Telangana population.