Normally, a deputy chief minister is considered to be No. 2 in any government and he holds key portfolios in the government. The fact that they are given these posts would mean they wield a lot of influence in the government as well as party.
However, when it comes to the Telugu states – both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, there seems to be absolutely no value for deputy chief ministers.
Both the states have two deputy CMs each: in Telangana, Kadiam Srihari and Md Mahmood Ali; and in Andhra Pradesh, there are K E Krishna Murthy and N Chinna Rajappa. In fact, all the four ministers have been given crucial portfolios of revenue, higher education and home.
But, the fact is that none of them enjoys any powers. In the party, they have to remain subservient to chief ministers and their sons – K Chandrasekhar Rao and K T Rama Rao in Telangana; and N Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh Babu in Andhra. They have to stand and sit, according to the tunes of the top bosses.
In the administration, too, they have little role to play, as all the crucial files go only to their respective chief ministers. They cannot take individual decisions and even regular departmental reviews are also done at the CM level. They have to be put up with small-time lobbying that would fetch them little money.
No wonder, Krishnamurthy called his Dy CM post as “sixth finger!”
