Familiar terrain for 2 CMs

Besides the fact that they are both Congress chief ministers, there are more similarities between Dharam Singh, the newly-sworn in CM of Karnataka, and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

For one, both Singh and Reddy studied in Osmania University. Singh, a native of Gulbarga, completed his elementary and secondary education here, and higher education in Hyderabad. On the other hand, Reddy completed his elementary education in Andhra Pradesh and higher education in Gulbarga. ‘‘While Reddy was hyperactive and directly plunged into students’ union politics, Singh was more sober, more interested in being a kingmaker,’’ recalls Muralidhar Rao, who was Singh’s classmate and who taught Reddy at the Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College in Gulbarga.