Dr Yediguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy, who cradled controversies and enemies, was a fiercely combative man of masses till his death in a tragic helicopter crash on a hillock near Rollapenta, about 74 km East of Kurnool in which all the five on board had perished.
Elected to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa constituency four times in 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1998 and five times to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly from his political bastion, Pulivendla, he was among the few political leaders in the country, especially in Congress party, who had never lost an election.
Brooking no opposition to his authority, either in the Congress party or from outside, in the state, he was rated as the most powerful leader who delivered on his electoral promises. He used all tricks to humble his political opponents but worked hard for the welfare of the masses.
A man who created as many friends as enemies during his 25-odd years of political life, YSR had, many 'first' to his credit.
The only Chief Minister to die in office and the only Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to complete his full five-year term -- though N T Rama Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu of Telugu Desam Party and his mentor Kasu Bramahananda Reddy of Congress had longer tenure.
Interestingly, he had made his electoral debut as the Congress(Reddy) candidate to the state assembly in 1978 though the three-MLA party merged with the Congress (Indira) later.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Post a Comment