Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

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Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy
YSR Postal Stamp 2010[1]
14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
In office
14 May 2004[2][3] – 2 September 2009[4]
Governor
Cabinet
Preceded byN. Chandrababu Naidu
Succeeded byKonijeti Rosaiah
ConstituencyPulivendla
7th Leader of the Opposition
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office
11 October 1999[5] – 13 May 2004
Governor
Chief MinisterN. Chandrababu Naidu
Preceded byP. Janardhan Reddy
Succeeded byN. Chandrababu Naidu
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
2 December 1989 – 26 April 1999
Preceded byD. N. Reddy
Succeeded byY. S. Vivekananda Reddy
ConstituencyKadapa
12th President of
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee
In office
1998–1999
AICC PresidentSonia Gandhi
Preceded byKonijeti Rosaiah
Succeeded bySatyanarayana Rao
In office
1983–1985
AICC President
Preceded byGaddam Venkatswamy
Succeeded byJalagam Vengala Rao
Minister of Excise,
Rural Development and Education
[6]
Government of Andhra Pradesh
In office
1980–1983
GovernorK. C. Abraham
Chief Minister
Succeeded by
Member of Legislative Assembly
Andhra Pradesh
In office
11 October 1999 – 2 September 2009
Preceded byY. S. Vivekananda Reddy
Succeeded byY. S. Vijayamma
ConstituencyPulivendla
In office
5 March 1978 – 28 November 1989
Preceded byPenchikala Basi Reddy
Succeeded byY. S. Vivekananda Reddy
ConstituencyPulivendla
Personal details
Born
Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy

(1949-07-08)8 July 1949
Pulivendula, Madras State (present-day Andhra Pradesh), India
Died2 September 2009(2009-09-02) (aged 60)
Nallamala Hills, Andhra Pradesh, India
Cause of deathHelicopter crash
Resting placeYSR Ghat, Idupulapaya
Political partyIndian National Congress
Spouse(s)Y.S. Vijayalakshmi
(m.1971)
ChildrenY. S. Jaganmohan Reddy (son)
Y. S. Sharmila (daughter)
Parent
  • Y. S. Raja Reddy (father)
RelativesY. S. Vivekananda Reddy (brother)
Y. S. Avinash Reddy (nephew)
EducationMBBS
Alma materMahadevappa Rampure Medical College
Profession

Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (8 July 1949 – 2 September 2009), popularly known as YSR was an Indian politician. He served as the 14th chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2009. Reddy was elected four times to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa and to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly for five terms from the Pulivendula, winning every election he contested.

In 2003, he undertook a three-month-long padayatra covering 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) in 60 days across 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh as a part of his election campaign. He led the Congress party to victory in the 2004 and 2009 assembly elections.[7] On 2 September 2009, a helicopter carrying Reddy went missing in the Nallamala Forest area which was later confirmed to have crashed with all five people including Reddy pronounced dead.[8]

Early and personal life

Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy was born on 8 July 1949 in Pulivendula, Kadapa district, Madras State (present day Andhra Pradesh) into a Christian Reddy family as eldest of five sons.[9][10] Rajasekhara Reddy completed his medical studies in Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College, Gulbarga, Karnataka and served as medical officer at CSI-Campbell Mission Hospital, Jammalamadugu after completing his studies. In 1973, he established a 70-bed hospital.[11] His father Raja Reddy, was assassinated in a bomb attack on 23 May 1998.[12]

Reddy was married to Vijaya Lakshmi.[13] They had a son Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and a daughter Y. S. Sharmila.[14] His son Jagan and younger brother Y. S. Vivekananda are also politicians. Reddy was a practicing Christian and visited Bethlehem, Palestine twice.[15][14] He also visited the Hindu temple of Tirupati regularly.[16][17]

Career

Reddy joined Indian National Congress in 1978 and won the 1978 elections from Pulivendula. He became minister for rural development from 1980 and later shifted to the Excise Ministry in 1982 and Education in 1982–83. He won the 1983 and 1985 elections from the same constituency. He was appointed the state president of the congress party by Indira Gandhi. He won from Kadapa constituency for four terms in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha. He returned to state politics and won the 1999 assembly elections from the same Pulivendula constituency and served as leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh State Assembly from 1999 to 2004.[11][18] In 2003, he undertook a three-month-long padayatra covering 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) in 60 days across 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh as a part of his election campaign.[19]

Chief Ministership (2004-09)

Reddy lead the congress party to victory in the 2004 assembly election and served as the 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2009. During his tenure as Chief Minister, he enacted schemes to provide free electricity for farmers, a health insurance program for rural people living below the poverty line,[20] a free public ambulance service,[21] low interest loans to rural women, subsidised housing for the rural poor,[22] subsidized rice,[23] reimbursement of college fees for underprivileged and reservation for minorities.[24] His tenure also saw the weakening of the violent extremist left-wing Naxalite movement that was rampant in the state.[11] He commenced the Jala Yagnam project to irrigate 4,000,000 hectares (10,000,000 acres) of land through the construction of major, medium and minor irrigation projects.[25]

He led the congress party to victory in the 2009 assembly election, winning 156 seats in the assembly.[26] He became the first incumbent chief minister from congress since 1969 to win and was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 20 May 2009.[27][28][29]

Disappearance and death

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paying homage at the mortal remains of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

On 2 September 2009, Reddy's was traveling in a Bell 430 helicopter and the Begumpet and Shamshabad air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at 10:02 am while it was passing through the dense Nallamala forest area.[30] The Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh said that inclement weather had forced the helicopter off course.[31][32] Although the sparsely populated forest area is considered to be a stronghold of the outlawed Naxal insurgents, the National Security Advisor of India ruled out the possibility of the Naxals bringing down the helicopter.[33] On 3 September, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed the crash of the helicopter and the death of all aboard along with Reddy.[34][35] The Director General of Police said that the bodies were charred beyond recognition and had to be identified on the basis of clothing and the autopsy was carried out at Kurnool Medical College.[36][37] An investigation eventually concluded that the factors that caused that crash was from mechanical issues and worse weather conditions.[38]

Reddy's body was buried on 4 September at Idupulapai in Kadapa district with full state honors in accordance with Christian rites.[39][40] As per media reports, 122 people died of shock or committed suicide upon hearing the news of Reddy's death, many of whom were young supporters or those who benefited from his social welfare schemes.[41] Finance Minister Konijeti Rosaiah was sworn in as Chief Minister following Reddy's death.[42]

Criticism

Reddy was accused of amassing large amounts of money during his tenure as the Chief Minister.[43] He is said to have used populist schemes like irrigation projects and housing schemes to his advantage and earn huge profits through them.[43][44] In a leaked United States diplomatic cable, the American Consul General quotes that there was "widespread corruption that was beyond the pale even for India".[44][45] The surrender of more than 650 hectares (1,600 acres) of personal land by Reddy to the government to be compliant with the law in December 2006 was criticised by opposition parties. The opposition parties demanded his resignation for owning the land in violation of the law.[46] N. Chandrababu Naidu also called for Reddy's resignation after a 2007 Khammam police shooting resulted in eight deaths.[47] A federal probe of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was also launched to investigate disproportionate assets acquired by his son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, in return for favours his father made to the industrialists. In May 2012, the CBI arrested Mopidevi Venkataramana, the then Infrastructure Minister in Reddy's cabinet, who was responsible for unduly assigning the land to a private organisations.[48]

In popular culture

On 8 July 2010, the Government of Andhra Pradesh renamed the Kadapa district as YSR district in honour of Reddy, who was a native of that district.[49][50] On 14 September 2009, the Andhra Cricket Association renamed ACA-VDCA cricket stadium at Visakhapatnam as Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. Two sequential films were made about him, Yatra (2019 film) and Yatra 2. In 2020, the Andhra Pradesh Government declared YSR jayanti to be celebrated as Farmer's Day on 8 July every year.


Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy family
Y. S. GangammaY. S. Venkat ReddyY. S. Mangamma
Y. S. Chinna KondareddyY. S. Pedda KondareddyY. S. SugunammaY. S. Prabhudas ReddyY. S. RatnammaY. S. Raja ReddyY. S. JayammaY. S. Purushottam ReddyY. S. Mary PuneetammaY. S. Kamalamma
Y. S. Rajasekhara ReddyY. S. VijayammaY. S. Sudheekar ReddyY. S. VidhyaJayaY. S. Ravindranath ReddyY. S. Vivekananda ReddyY. S. Soubhagyamma
Y. S. SharmilaBro. M. Anil KumarY. S. Jagan Mohan ReddyY. S. BharathiY. S. Viranica ReddyManchu VishnuY. S. SuneethaNarreddy Rajasekhar Reddy

References

  1. ^ "YSR stamp to be released on Sept.2". The Times of India. 22 August 2010.
  2. ^ https://www.rediff.com/election/2004/may/13ysr.htm
  3. ^ https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/ysr-swornin-as-andhra-cm-emerges-as-a-mass-leader/lite/
  4. ^ Rajasekhara Reddy, four others killed in helicopter crash - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Rajasekhara-Reddy-four-others-killed-in-helicopter-crash/article16878911.ece
  5. ^ https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/the-man-who-could-be-next-chief-minister-of-andhra/story-k7W885shXQInRCvoqnBy1H.html
  6. ^ "Rajasekhar Reddy Profile". 3 September 2009.
  7. ^ "Tragedies in Yeduguri Sandinti Family". The Hindu. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Death came without warning for, YSR". The Times of India. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  9. ^ Reddy, Prasada; Sivarama, T. (2010). An Autobiography of Y. S. Chinna Konda Reddy (PDF). Kadapa: Y. S. Prakash Reddy.
  10. ^ Srinivasulu, K (2009). "Y S Rajasekhara Reddy: A Political Appraisal". Economic and Political Weekly. 44 (38): 8–10. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 25663561.
  11. ^ a b c "YSR: A doctor with a finger on the public pulse". Mid-Day. Hyderabad: IANS. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
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  13. ^ "More cheap rice, free power". The Indian Express. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  14. ^ a b "YSR leaves for pilgrimage to Israel". The Hindu. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  15. ^ Sai, J S (7 September 1999). "In Cuddapah, YSR is king". Rediff. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  16. ^ P Neelima (4 September 2009). "A Christian, YSR a regular at Tirumala". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  17. ^ Babu, Venkatesha. "YS Rajasekhara Reddy : A tiger who will roar no more". HT Media. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  18. ^ "YSR's pocket borough". The Hindu. India. 21 April 2009. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  19. ^ "YSR's padayatra to begin on April 9". The Times of India. 2 April 2003. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  20. ^ "YSR wants Arogyasree, 108 and 104 under one umbrella".
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  23. ^ Charya, K.V.V.V. (10 December 2007). "Rs 2/kg rice to add Rs 3,000cr burden on Andhra coffers". The Financial Express. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  24. ^ "NREGA: Andhra Pradesh shows the way". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 8 September 2008. Archived from the original on 11 September 2008.
  25. ^ Ram Goginei. "Jalayagnam in Andhra Pradesh, India". Jalayagnam.org. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  26. ^ "YSR's performance, credibility behind Congress magic in Andhra". Sify. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014.
  27. ^ "YSR: From aggressive politician to mass leader". The Hindu. PTI. 3 September 2009. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  28. ^ "The tragedy and the trend". The Indian Express. India. 5 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  29. ^ "YSR Reddy sworn-in as Andhra Pradesh CM". Hindustan Times. 20 May 2009. Archived from the original on 10 September 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  30. ^ "Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy Missing". Hindustan Times. 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  31. ^ "Bad weather forced YSR chopper off course". The Economic Times. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  32. ^ "Bell-430 deviated from flight path in bad weather". The Hindu. India. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  33. ^ "NSA rules out Naxal strike on YSR Reddy's chopper". Press Trust of India. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  34. ^ "Andhra Pradesh plunges into gloom". The Hindustan Times. India. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  35. ^ "PMO confirms death of Andhra CM". The Times of India. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  36. ^ "Charred bodies of YSR, others identified by clothes". Hindustan Times. India. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  37. ^ "Autopsy conducted on YSR in Kurnool". The Times of India. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  38. ^ Report on Accident to Andhra Pradesh (PDF). Andhra Pradesh Online Portal (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  39. ^ Dharur, Suresh (4 September 2009). "Farewell, 'King of Kadapa'". Chandigarh Tribune. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  40. ^ "YSR buried with full state honours in native village". The Indian Express. India. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
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  42. ^ "Finance Minister K Rosiah is caretaker CM". NDTV. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  43. ^ a b "YSR's 'sheer size' of corruption shocked US diplomats". First Post. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  44. ^ a b "Graft during YSR rule was above norm in India: WikiLeaks". NDTV. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  45. ^ "YSR Reddy's government was engaged in corruption: WikiLeaks". India Today. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  46. ^ "I've 1,000 acres more, says CM". The Times of India. India. 19 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  47. ^ "Khammam police firing unfortunate, says Andhra CM". Outlook. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
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  50. ^ "Kadapa district to be named after YSR". The Hindu. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2012.

External links

Preceded by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
2004–2009
Succeeded by