Many throw hat in ring for CM's chair

A Seemandhra Congress MP speaking on condition of anonymity said that the race for the chief minister's post in the two states has begun even before the Telangana Bill clears the Rajya Sabha hurdle.

The chief ministerial aspirants for the yet-to-be-formed Telangana are Union minister for science and technology S Jaipal Reddy, state level ministers and senior politicians K Jana Reddy, Geetha Reddy. Besdies, every other leader in Telangana is putting his and her hat in the ring as well, taking the number of hopefuls to an incredible 15.

This does not include Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K.Chandrasekhara Rao because he has refused to merge his party with the Congress as he had promised earlier. He will stake claim to be chief minister on his own and he will not look to the Congress for support. He wants to fight the election on his own and choose allies if on his terms if required.

Meanwhile, among those who are staking claim to be chief ministers are matinee idol-turned-politician K.Chiranjeevi, Raghuveera Reddy from Rayalaseema and Congress president of the state unit Botcha Satyanarayana. There are five who want to be chief minister in Seemandhra.

Some office-seekers are willing to be chief ministers just for three months, which is the time left for the present term of the state assembly.

There are others who are demanding that President's Rule be imposed in the state for a year so that frayed nerves and high tempers across the state cool down and elections can be held in the two estates then.