It is well known that PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana had been aspiring for the chief minister post since the days when late YS Rajasekhar Reddy was the chief minister. Even after Kiran Kumar Reddy becoming the chief minister, Botsa never tried to hide his ambition of becoming the CM. According to sources, the PCC chief, who is also the in-charge transport minister, is unhappy with the CM for not according him an official status as Number Two in the cabinet.

That's the reason, say the sources, Botsa has not stepped in to the Secretariat for the past 60 days. He even stayed away from the transport department during the 42-day sakala Janula Samme. However, he did attend the cabinet meeting that was held at the CM's camp office, but skipped the meeting called by Kiran Kumar on Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu in the Secretariat. Keeping this in view, CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy's camp wants to exert more pressure on the Congress high command to have Botsa removed from the state cabinet.

Sources close to Botsa also feel that Kiran Kumar is wantonly denying Botsa with the No.2 official position in the Cabinet. "YSR had made it clear to everyone that finance minister K Rosaiah was his No 2. It is because of this that Rosaiah's transition as CM after YSR's death was smooth and unchallenged. But Kiran Kumar is not willing to accord a similar privilege to Botsa. Hence, he is preferring to camp more at Gandhi Bhavan than come to the Secretariat," said a Botsa aide. The Botsa camp also alleged that the CM was putting pressure on the party high command to ease their leader out of the cabinet.

Sources in the CM camp too confirmed that a cold war is brewing between the two leaders and that Botsa is not letting go any opportunity to strengthen his chances of succeeding Kiran Kumar as the next CM. "When this is the situation, how can Kiran accord Number Two status to Botsa," said a CM aide. Apparently, the CM is worried about the growing influence of the PCC chief with the ruling party politicians and the bureaucrats and wants to eliminate the threat from him to his chair as soon as possible.

On their part, the Botsa camp wants to extend the reach of their leader across the state. With the CM unable to freely travel in the Telangana region, Botsa wants to consolidate his hold as much as possible in that region. “In fact, Botsa is the only cabinet minister who is welcome in any district irrespective of the region. Since the Telangana strike is over, the PCC chief will resume his district tours soon,” a close aide of Botsa said. As a result, it is likely that the 'tug of war' between the rival camps will get more intensified in the coming weeks.