TN assignment pleasant surprise, says Rosaiah

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Carrying pleasant memories of his many visits to Tamil Nadu and the meetings he had with its leaders, Konijeti Rosaiah is arriving Chennai with family from Hyderabad Wednesday morning to take charge as the Governor.

The 78-year-old Congress leader will be sworn in at the Raj Bhavan at 4.22 pm.

Apart from his children and grandchildren, several friends and admirers from across Andhra Pradesh are descending on Chennai to witness the swearing-in.

Rosaiah, who was a minister many times during his political career spanning over five decades, is a very popular leader in his state.

He took over the reins of the state when chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash in September 2009 and later stepped down quietly as a disciplined Congress-man when the high command decided to replace him with Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy.

“I shall perform whatever duty my party high command bestows upon me. The Tamil Nadu assignment has come as a pleasant surprise; pleasant because I have many happy memories of visiting the state and meeting its top leaders, right from the late Rajaji,” Rosaiah told DC in a coffee-table conversation at his elegant bungalow in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

“I hear that 35-40 per cent of people in Chennai are Telugu-speaking. But then, Madras has always been close to our hearts, our lives, as Patnam used to be the natural destination for the coastal people right up to Bhuban-eswar for medical treatment, education and shopping. I am sure there are many people and institutions there to keep me positively engaged,” the Governor-designate said with a broad smile.

He recalled his meeting with Ms Jayalalithaa during her earlier terms as chief minister and said he was looking forward to a ‘positive and pleasant’ tenure at the Raj Bhavan.

“The chief minister is a charming person and an able administrator. She speaks such beautiful Telugu,” Rosaiah said.

Sources close to him said that Rosaiah, as Chancellor of all the state-run universities in Tamil Nadu, is keen on doing his bit to improve higher education in the state.

He takes over at a time when there have been allegations of corruption in the appointment of vice-chancellors in some of the universities and various other procurement scandals.