HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI - The Congress leadership is considering Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy for the post of Andhra Pradesh chief minister, said a close aide of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, even as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee clarified that a final decision would be taken at “an appropriate time.”

K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, a long-time friend of Rajasekhara Reddy, told reporters that the central leadership would take a decision on this issue. YSR, as the deceased chief minister was popularly known, was killed in a helicopter crash in Andhra Pradesh’s Nallamalla forest Sep 2.

In Delhi, senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told women journalists that a decision on YSR’s successor would “be taken at an appropriate time.”

Asked about the chorus for naming YSR’s son Jaganmohan Reddy as his successor in the chief minister’s post, Mukherjee said it was “an emotional upsurge after his death”. To further questions, he only said: “It is not a major issue. It may noy take longer to decide.”

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, meanwhile, said the party would consider the demand of Jaganmohan’s supporters provided if it came through a process.

“If at all there is a demand, which is reflective of people’s sentiments; as long as it is routed through correct organisational process and brought to the AICC in-charge, then the party will definitely take it into consideration,” he told reporters in Delhi. He was referring to the All India Congress Committee leader M. Veerappa Moily who is in charge of theparty’s Andhra Pradesh affairs.

Referring to K. Rosaiah, who has been installed chief minister following YSR’s death, Tewari added: “There is a chief minister in Andhra Pradesh. There is a cabinet in that state, which has taken oath and if at all at any point of time there is a change in the situation, we will inform you.”

Meanwhile, K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, who is also member of the Rajya Sabha, met YSR’s son Jaganmohan Reddy at the CM’s Camp Office soon after his return from Delhi where he pitched hard for his candidature.

Rao met party president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior leaders during the three days he was in Delhi and apprised Jaganmohan of the outcome of his talks.

He would return to Delhi after attending an all-party condolence meeting here Friday evening for further consultations with the leadership.

His visit to Hyderabad, meeting with Jaganmohan and return to Delhi triggered speculations in political circles in Hyderabad that the leadership was reluctant to name 37-year-old Jagan, a first time parliamentarian, as the next chief minister and has instead offered him the post of deputy chief minister or a berth in central cabinet.

The leadership is also reportedly ready to appoint him to some key post in the party.