Should Y S Jaganmohan Reddy be permitted to step into his father YS Rajasekhar Reddy's shoes? According to his followers, Jaganmohan has the backing of some 140 of the 158 Congress MLAs from the state. In the best democratic tradition he is entitled to become chief minister.

Jaganmohan has already conveyed an indirect threat by sending word to the Congress that " the party cannot ignore the wishes of the people."

Earlier, the 35 year old Jaganmohan had issued a cleverly crafted statement urging his followers not to get out of hand in the continuing campaign to compel Delhi to make him chief minister. His statement harped on the fact that his father loyally served successive generations of the Gandhi family.

The subtext seemed to suggest, that if the Gandhis can be a ruling dynasty at the Centre, why not the Reddys in the state.

But are the two really comparable? The majority of the MLAs of Andhra back Jaganmohan, because they were handpicked by his father.

But he is unlikely to be the first choice of the people of the state, even if his camp followers are brandishing a Nielson poll which suggests that 78 per cent of Andhra want him to be chief minister. The people of Andhra expect as their leader someone more experienced in public life and displaying more probity in his business dealings.

In ten years Jaganmohan has built up a fortune of several hundred crores through coal, mining and power companies. Just six months back, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu in the Andhra assembly had alleged that the modus operandi for Jaganmohan's phenomenal business success was to initially purchase shares of a company at a low price and then sell them at a huge premium to various industrial houses which needed the goodwill of the state government.

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