Jagan camp talks of son taking over from father

The Congress party's Core Group on Thursday met to discuss the succession issue in Andhra Pradesh with supporters of Jaganmohan Reddy stepping up their campaign for his anointment as Chief Minister citing such practices in regional parties.

The Congress party's Core Group on Thursday met to discuss the succession issue in Andhra Pradesh with supporters of Jaganmohan Reddy stepping up their campaign for his anointment as Chief Minister citing such practices in regional parties.

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Eleven of the 33 party MPs from Andhra Pradesh on Thursday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is expected to go to Hyderabad sometime later for resolving the issue, and put up their case that late YS Rajasekhara Reddy's son should be given the top job in the state.

There was no official word on what the core group discussed but it was believed to have gone over various options against the backdrop of reports that the Jagan camp was getting restive and was not cooperating the interim Chief Minister K Rosaiah.

KVP Ramachandra Rao, adviser to the late YSR and one who is seen as sponsoring the campaign for Jaganmohan, also met senior leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel and Veerappa Moily, who is incharge of the Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh.

Reliable sources in the Jaganmohan camp said that the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh was virtually a regional party and so should follow the practice of anointing the son of a leader as a successor to chief ministership.