Congress's Plan A: Prez rule in Andhra. Plan B: Jaipal Reddy as CM

Andhra Pradesh may witness a spell of President’s rule in the wake of the resignation of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.

The Congress core committee will take a final call on the issue once the Rajya Sabha clears the Telangana Bill.

The Congress is not very keen on appointing a new CM for the soon-to-be-divided state.

The party will incur the wrath of Seema-Andhra leaders -- who are already fuming over the bifurcation of the state -- if it appoints a CM from Telangana.

On the other hand, Telangana leaders will not react too kindly if the Congress appoints a CM from Seema-Andhra.

If the Congress core committee agrees to the imposition of President’s rule in Andhra Pradesh, then the party may bide its time till the state is formally divided before holding assembly polls.

In the unlikely event of the Congress opting to appoint a CM, Jaipal Reddy will be the frontrunner for the post, as he is considered to be an acceptable candidate for leaders from both Telangana and Seema-Andhra.

He may just be the Congress’s ‘back-up’ plan for Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if Kiran Kumar Reddy, who claims to have the support of 15 legislators, will float a new party.

Reddy not only lacks the requisite support to create a new outfit, say political analysts, he is also considered the ‘villain’ by many opponents of Telangana, who believe that he remained mum about the raging issue for a long time, before finally deciding to speak up.

Image: Pro-Telangana activists celebrate in Hyderabad ' Photograph: SnapsIndia