Who will succeed YSR?

New Andhra chief minister K Rosaiah seems to be distancing himself from the letter sent to Sonia Gandhi on behalf of the Council of Ministers, saying the high command's judgment would be best on who is most suited for the job of CM.

It was Rosaiah's first day in office as Chief Minister, but he chose to sit in the same office he worked from as Finance Minister. One block away is the office YSR occupied, the office of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. But that still seems a long way off for Rosaiah despite being sworn in as CM.

There is no denying that Rosaiah is one of the most seasoned and experienced politicians in Andhra Pradesh. He has served as minister with five chief ministers.

Compared to the vast experience of the 77-year-old CM, Jagan with a little over 100 days in politics as MP from Kadappa, is virtually inexperienced, something Rosaiah is conscious of.

"Jagan is very young. He has many qualities like his father. I am not at all in the race. I am a loyal soldier of the party. I will go according to the wishes of the Congress party. We have a very strong leadership in Delhi from Sonia Gandhi. They will take different angles into consideration and decide," said K Rosaiah.

Rosaiah's stance somewhat dilutes the letter sent by his Council of Ministers to Sonia Gandhi proposing Jagan as the next Chief Minister. A meeting of Congress MLAs, meant to orchestrate a signature support campaign for Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jaganmohan Reddy, was watered down into a floral tribute to the former chief minister. Analysts see the change in plans as fallout of a message from the Central high command.

"With the highest respect to our great leader Sonia ji and Rahul ji, we are only appealing to them to make Jaganmohan Reddy the chief minister," said Bhatti Vikramarka, government chief whip in Andhra Assembly.