The problem for the Congress is that whoever is the successor , he or she will have to take all factions along as Andhra Pradesh Congress is known for its factionalism. It was to the credit of Reddy that he did not face much dissidence in his five-year rule but it was also due to the complete backing of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi that the dissidents were kept at bay. If anyone landed in Delhi with complaints against the chief minister she would silence them by turning a deaf ear. Secondly, Reddy was not only her trusted aide but also the party's financier to a large extent. Thirdly, Andhra Pradesh was one state which faithfully implemented the National rural employment guarantee scheme, the pet project of Sonia Gandhi. This certainly yielded good dividend for the party to come back to power in Andhra Pradesh.

Reddy was also in the process of finishing opposition. After the huge success in the polls, he was on the verge of splitting the Telengana Rashtra Samithi by getting some of its leaders into the Congress. Even a top leader like film star-turned-politician Vijayashanti was said to be in the queue. The Congress had already admitted Roja, another star as a prize catch.

The TRS, which was on the verge of a collapse may now revive if the new chief minister is not up to the mark. Reddy was also in the process of splitting the Praja Rajyam party of another film star Chiranjeevi. PRP party had cut into the votes of Telugu Desam and the Congress.

Reddy was a match to the wily Telugu Desam supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu who was almost reconciled to cooling his heels after his party's humiliation at the polls. With Reddy out of the way, Naidu will make all out efforts to build his party again. The challenge for Naidu is to forge a social coalition to wrest power from the Congress, As the next elections are about four and a half years away, Naidu has enough time to attempt this. Incidentally, both Reddy and Naidu became legislators in 1978 and went on to become ministers in 1980.

The challenge for the Congress is to find a successor who could deal with all these issues. First of all, since Naidu comes form the powerful Khamma community, the Congress has to find someone either from the same community or alternately find another Reddy. The track record shows that the Congress had chosen a Reddy eight out of ten times in the past. Persons belonging to any other caste would face dissidence within a few days.

There is already a demand for installing the son of Rajashekhara Reddy as his successor but he is an M.P and a greenhorn who has no experience of dealing with the sharks in the party. Union minister Purandhareswari, who is the daughter of former chief minister late N.T.R., belongs to the Khamma community. But she too has no experience in state politics. Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy is a seasoned politician who has had a taste of local as well as national politics. He may be a good choice but it depends on the party high command.

Then there are other names like Pallam Raju, who is a junior minister and close to Rahul Gandhi and PCC chief D. Srinivas who belongs to the backward classes. There could also be a dark horse as most of these names are already out. Since it is clear that Rosaiah is only an interim chief minister, the race continues until Sonia Gandhi decides on the successor. This should be done sooner as Rosaiah will find it difficult to run a caretaker government.

With 33 MPs from Andhra Pradesh and a majority in the Assembly there would be a lot of pressure on the high command. The M.Ps will soon assert themselves for a ministerial berth at the Centre as well. For all practical purposes, the death of Reddy has opened up a Pandora's box for the Congress leadership.(IPA)