Finance Minister K Rosaiah, who is the senior-most Congress leader of Andhra Pradesh, was on Thursday sworn-in as Chief Minister following the death of incumbent Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
The Governor N D Tiwari administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Rosaiah at a simple function at Raj Bhavan. He was the only one to be sworn in.
His swearing came within hours of official declaration of death of Reddy, whose helicopter crashed in Kurnool on Wednesday.
After taking the oath, he drove straight to the State Secretariat where he met all the ministers of the Reddy Cabinet.
Rosaiah -- A low profile, non-controversial leader
K Rosaiah, who was on Thursday sworn-in as Chief Minister, is the senior most Congress leader who has been a minister in successive Congress governments since 1979.
The 77-year-old Rosaiah, a low profile and non-controversial leader, has held various portfolios under different Chief Ministers but he is most popular as the Finance Minister.
He, in fact, set a record by presenting as many as 15 Budgets to the Assembly.
Born in July 1933 at Vemuru in Guntur district, the Commerce graduate has been active in politics since his student days in the Hindu College, Guntur.
A low profile and non-controversial leader, he was a close follower of the late parliamentarian and farmers leader Prof N G Ranga.
Mr. Rosaiah, who belongs to the Vaishya community, served as a member of AP Legislative Council in 1968, 1974 and 1980 and became a Minister for Roads and Buildings in 1979 under Marri Channa Reddy.
Subsequently, Mr. Rosaiah served as a minister in the Cabinets of T Anjaiah, Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, N Janardhana Reddy and has been serving as a minister in the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy Cabinet since May 2004. He held portfolios like home, health, education and transport.
He also served as Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president between 1995 and 1997 and was elected to Lok Sabha from Narsaraopet in 1998.
Andhra University conferred an honorary doctorate on Mr. Rosaiah in 2007. Mr. Rosaiah is married to Sivalaxmi and has three sons and a daughter.
