Rosaiah- A Rare Politician

Konjeti Rosaiah was a rare leader. The present genre of leaders needs to study his lifestyle and understand the kind of dedication he had towards his work and sincerity and how he earned respect from the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is also rarest of rare politician who never thought of migrating to any other party. Was always a true loyal soldier of Congress party.

The 88-year-old Rosaiah started his career as a student union leader in Hindu Kalasala in Guntur. His role as a student leader with liberal ideology catapulted him into active politics. He entered the Legislative Council in 1968 and was a member for 17 years. He worked with all Congress chief ministers starting with Dr M Chenna Reddy.

His towering personality was something which one can never forget. Tall, Soft spoken, friendly with persons of all ages and a straight forward man who never minced words when he had to express his views whether it be on the floor of the Assembly or outside.

Those were the days (1994) when Rosaiah was the president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee. I was a reporter working for The Hindu Newspaper. I had stopped at a petrol station opposite to State Secretariat. Rosaiah in his white Contessa car had also come to the same petrol station. He was sitting in the front seat. He saw me, came out of the car, patted on my back, spoke to me for few minutes and left for Gandhi Bhavan saying we will meet there again. He was that simple a person. Unlike most of the present-day leaders, he never had any air that he was a tall or big leader.

Even after he became a minister, one could anytime stop him in the corridors of secretariat or Assembly and clarify his doubts on matters related to finance or any department he was holding. He was media friendly and was easily approachable. A man who never gave up his traditional attire of khadi dhoti and kurta and traditional Kanduva.

He had tremendous oratory skills and lung power and he knew how to handle the opposition. His remarks used to be very sharp and the opposition always found it difficult to counter him. But his language was never harsh or abusive. He never deviated from the parliamentary practices and never violated the decorum of the parliamentary practices.

Once during an informal chat, I asked him how is that he has been a finance minister for so long. He said when he was first given the portfolio, he also had similar doubts and had posed the same question to Chenna Reddy. The reply he got was that "you have been given this major portfolio since you belong to business community and I am confident that you will manage state finances prudently."

When Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was the CM, the prices of rice in the open market had shot up to over Rs 60 a kg. When the issue was raised by me during a media conference, YSR denied and when I offered to take his officials with me to a small kirana shop to prove it, YSR said he still differed with me and said he would constitute a committee if I was willing to prove it. I instantly accepted his challenge.

Rosaiah was the finance minister and was watching the press conference live. He immediately walked into the CMs chamber and told YSR, don't commit the mistake of constituting a committee. Your officials have given wrong information to you. Rice prices are very high and what that reporter said was correct and YSR decided to drop the idea. That was the kind of mutual faith and respect the CMs and ministers had those days.

As CMs are known to go overboard in announcing freebies, Rosaiah used to caution the CMs about the impact on the finances during one to one meetings well ahead of any announcement.

Once Rosaiah during an informal chat said, "Yes it is difficult to find resources if CMs go on announcing schemes," but then once cabinet decides, I have no option but to find money somehow or the other."

The toughest situation Rosaiah had to handle was when the Bell 430 Helicopter which took off from Begumpet airport carrying Y S Rajasekhara Reddy went missing. He was the first one to reach 'C' Block, the office of chief minister. He went into huddle with officials including chief secretary Ramakanth Reddy, Additional DG K Arvind Rao, Grey Hounds chief and asked them to prepare an action plan to launch a search for the chopper.

Despite his advanced age, Rosaiah did not heed the suggestion of officials and ministers to take rest. He stayed put at C Block, monitoring all calls and coordinating with officials and ministers and speaking to the Congress leadership in Delhi and apprising them of the situation.

After he became the chief minister, he had come to the secretariat after attending some meeting and to his surprise he found that the lift had developed technical snag. He did not hesitate to sit in the steel chairs in the corridors of the chief public relations officer and got busy in chit chat with media representatives who were there for about 10 minutes till the lift was ready. A man of high principles, He is a politician who should be a role model for the present-day leaders including chief ministers. The state has lost a legendry leader and perhaps with his death, curtains have been pulled down on a generation of true leaders.