Ys rajasekhar reddy biography of christopher columbus

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

14th Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh

Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (8 July – 2 September ), popularly known as YSR, was an Indian politician. He served as the 14th chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from to Reddy was elected (, , and ) four terms to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa and was also elected (, , , , and ) six terms to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Pulivendula. Over the course of his career, he won every election that he contested, either to Assembly or Lok Sabha.

On 2 September , 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.[7]

Padayatra

In , he undertook a three-month-long padayatra covering 1, kilometres (&#;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 and assembly elections.[8]

Early and personal life

Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy was born on 8 July in Pulivendula, Kadapa district, Madras State (present day Andhra Pradesh) into a ChristianReddy family of Y. S. Raja Reddy, 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 , he established a bed hospital.[11] His father Raja Reddy, was assassinated in a bomb attack on 23 May [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]

Career

Rajasekhara Reddy joined Indian National Congress in and won the legislative assembly elections from Pulivendula. He became minister for Rural Development from and later shifted to the Excise Ministry in and Education in – He won the and elections from the same constituency. He was appointed the state president of the Congress party by Indira Gandhi. He won from Kadapa Parliamentary constituency for four terms in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha. He returned to state politics and won the assembly elections from the same Pulivendula constituency and served as leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh State Assembly from to [11][16] In , he undertook a three-month-long padayatra covering 1, kilometres (&#;mi) in 60 days across 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh as a part of his election campaign.[17]

Chief Ministership (–09)

Reddy led the congress party to victory in the assembly election and served as the 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from to 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,[18] a free public ambulance service,[19] low interest loans to rural women, subsidised housing for the rural poor,[20] subsidized rice,[21] reimbursement of college fees for underprivileged and reservation for minorities.[22] 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,, hectares (10,, acres) of land through the construction of major, medium and minor irrigation projects.[23]

He led the congress party to victory in the assembly election, winning seats in the assembly.[24] He became the first incumbent chief minister from Congress since to win and was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 20 May [25][26][27]

Disappearance and death

Main article: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister helicopter crash

On 2 September , Reddy's was traveling in a Bell helicopter and the Begumpet and Shamshabadair traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at am while it was passing through the dense Nallamala forest area.[28] The Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh said that inclement weather had forced the helicopter off course.[29][30] 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.[31] On 3 September, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed the crash of the helicopter and the death of all aboard along with Reddy.[32][33] 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.[34][35] An investigation eventually concluded that the factors that caused that crash was from mechanical issues and worse weather conditions.[36]

Reddy's body was buried on 4 September at Idupulapai in Kadapa district with full state honors in accordance with Christian rites.[37][38] As per media reports, 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.[39]Finance ministerKonijeti Rosaiah was sworn in as Chief Minister following Reddy's death.[40]

Criticism

Reddy was accused of amassing large amounts of money during his tenure as the Chief Minister.[41] He is said to have used populist schemes like irrigation projects and housing schemes to his advantage and earned huge profits through them.[41][42] 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".[42][43] The surrender of more than hectares (1, acres) of personal land by Reddy to the government to be compliant with the law in December was criticised by opposition parties. The opposition parties demanded his resignation for owning the land in violation of the law.[44]

N. Chandrababu Naidu also called for Reddy's resignation after a Khammam police shooting resulted in eight deaths.[45] 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 , the CBI arrested Mopidevi Venkataramana, the then Infrastructure Minister in Reddy's cabinet, who was responsible for unduly assigning the land to a private organization.[46]

In popular culture

On 8 July , the Government of Andhra Pradesh renamed the Kadapa district as YSR district in honour of Reddy, who was a native of that district.[47][48] On 14 September , 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 () and Yatra 2 (). In , the Andhra Pradesh Government declared YSR Jayanti to be celebrated as Farmer's Day on 8 July every year.

Election Statistics

Year Contested For Party Constituency Opponent Votes Majority Result Reference
1 MLAIndian National CongressPulivendlaDevireddy Narayan Reddy (JP) 47, – 27, +20, Won [49]
2 Yeddula Bali Reddy (IND) 47, – 33, +13, Won [49]
3 Devi Reddy Sadasiva Reddy (TDP) 61, – 30, +30, Won [50]
4 MPKadapaM. V. Ramana Reddy (TDP) 4,80, – 3,13, +1,66, Won [51]
5 Chennamsetty Ramachandraiah (TDP) 5,83, – 1,65, +4,18, Won [51]
6 Kandula Raja Mohan Reddy (TDP) 3,68, 3,63, +5, Won [52]
7 Kandula Raja Mohan Reddy (TDP) 3,74, – 3,20, +53, Won [53]
8 MLAPulivendlaSinga Reddy Satish Kumar Reddy(TDP) 62, – 32, +30, Won [54]
9 Singa Reddy Satish Kumar Reddy (TDP) 74, – 33, +40, Won [55]
10 Singa Reddy Satish Kumar Reddy (TDP) 1,03, – 34, +68, Won [56]

References

  1. ^"YSR stamp to be released on Sept.2". The Times of India. 22 August
  2. ^"The 'perpetual dissident' finally becomes CM".
  3. ^"YSR sworn-in as Andhra CM, emerges as a mass leader". 20 May
  4. ^Rajasekhara Reddy, four others killed in helicopter crash –
  5. ^[bare URL]
  6. ^"Rajasekhar Reddy Profile". 3 September
  7. ^"Death came without warning for, YSR". The Times of India. 2 November Retrieved 18 December
  8. ^"Tragedies in Yeduguri Sandinti Family". The Hindu. 21 March Retrieved 18 December
  9. ^Reddy, Prasada; Sivarama, T. (). An Autobiography of Y. S. Chinna Konda Reddy(PDF). Kadapa: Y. S. Prakash Reddy.
  10. ^Srinivasulu, K (). "Y S Rajasekhara Reddy: A Political Appraisal". Economic and Political Weekly. 44 (38): 8– ISSN&#; JSTOR&#;
  11. ^ abc"YSR: A doctor with a finger on the public pulse". Mid-Day. Hyderabad: IANS. 3 September Archived from the original on 25 July Retrieved 25 October
  12. ^Somasekhar, M. (18 March ). "Tragedies dog the Yeduguri Sandinti family". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 April Retrieved 19 May
  13. ^"More cheap rice, free power". The Indian Express. 21 May Retrieved 12 June
  14. ^ ab"YSR leaves for pilgrimage to Israel". The Hindu. 27 May Retrieved 3 June
  15. ^Sai, J S (7 September ). "In Cuddapah, YSR is king". Rediff. Retrieved 10 September
  16. ^"YSR's pocket borough". The Hindu. India. 21 April Archived from the original on 24 April Retrieved 23 May
  17. ^"YSR's padayatra to begin on April 9". The Times of India. 2 April Retrieved 1 December
  18. ^"YSR wants Arogyasree, and under one umbrella".[permanent dead link&#;]
  19. ^" service was YSR's brainchild". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 6 September Archived from the original on 8 September
  20. ^Rural livelihoods – Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction (Report). World bank. Retrieved 23 May
  21. ^Charya, K.V.V.V. (10 December ). "Rs 2/kg rice to add Rs 3,cr burden on Andhra coffers". The Financial Express. Retrieved 28 May
  22. ^"NREGA: Andhra Pradesh shows the way". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 8 September Archived from the original on 11 September
  23. ^Ram Goginei. "Jalayagnam in Andhra Pradesh, India". Archived from the original on 8 November Retrieved 23 May
  24. ^"YSR's performance, credibility behind Congress magic in Andhra". Sify. Archived from the original on 9 December
  25. ^"YSR: From aggressive politician to mass leader". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 3 September ISSN&#;X. Archived from the original on 20 June Retrieved 19 November
  26. ^"The tragedy and the trend". The Indian Express. India. 5 September Retrieved 10 September
  27. ^"YSR Reddy sworn-in as Andhra Pradesh CM". Hindustan Times. 20 May Archived from the original on 10 September Retrieved 21 May
  28. ^"Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy Missing". Hindustan Times. 2 September Archived from the original on 29 June Retrieved 23 May
  29. ^"Bad weather forced YSR chopper off course". The Economic Times. 4 September Retrieved 23 May
  30. ^"Bell deviated from flight path in bad weather". The Hindu. India. 4 September Archived from the original on 5 September Retrieved 23 May
  31. ^"NSA rules out Naxal strike on YSR Reddy's chopper". Press Trust of India. 2 September Retrieved 10 September
  32. ^"Andhra Pradesh plunges into gloom". Hindustan Times. India. 3 September Archived from the original on 6 September Retrieved 3 September
  33. ^"PMO confirms death of Andhra CM". The Times of India. 3 September Archived from the original on 11 August Retrieved 23 May
  34. ^"Charred bodies of YSR, others identified by clothes". Hindustan Times. India. 3 September Archived from the original on 2 January Retrieved 23 May
  35. ^"Autopsy conducted on YSR in Kurnool". The Times of India. 4 September Archived from the original on 11 August Retrieved 23 May
  36. ^Report on Accident to Andhra Pradesh(PDF). Andhra Pradesh Online Portal (Report). Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 April Retrieved 11 May
  37. ^Dharur, Suresh (4 September ). "Farewell, 'King of Kadapa'". The Tribune. India. Retrieved 10 September
  38. ^"YSR buried with full state honours in native village". The Indian Express. India. 3 September Retrieved 10 September
  39. ^"Over die after YSR's death in Andhra". IBN. 5 September Archived from the original on 6 September Retrieved 15 June
  40. ^"Finance Minister K Rosiah is caretaker CM". NDTV. 3 September Retrieved 3 September
  41. ^ ab"YSR's 'sheer size' of corruption shocked US diplomats". First Post. 16 September Retrieved 11 May
  42. ^ ab"Graft during YSR rule was above norm in India: WikiLeaks". NDTV. Retrieved 11 May
  43. ^"YSR Reddy's government was engaged in corruption: WikiLeaks". India Today. Retrieved 11 May
  44. ^"I've 1, acres more, says CM". The Times of India. India. 19 December Archived from the original on 6 November Retrieved 26 May
  45. ^"Khammam police firing unfortunate, says Andhra CM". Outlook. Archived from the original on 27 November Retrieved 19 November
  46. ^Raja of Corruption: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. pp.&#;56–
  47. ^"Kadapa district to be named after YSR". The New Indian Express. 18 June Archived from the original on 4 March Retrieved 15 June
  48. ^"Kadapa district to be named after YSR". The Hindu. 4 September Archived from the original on 5 September Retrieved 15 June
  49. ^ ab"Pulivendla Assembly Constituency Election Result – Legislative Assembly Constituency".
  50. ^"IndiaVotes AC: Andhra Pradesh ".
  51. ^ ab"Cuddapah Lok Sabha Election Result – Parliamentary Constituency".
  52. ^"IndiaVotes PC: Cuddapah ".
  53. ^"IndiaVotes PC: Andhra Pradesh ".
  54. ^"IndiaVotes AC: Andhra Pradesh ".
  55. ^"IndiaVotes AC: Andhra Pradesh ".
  56. ^"IndiaVotes AC Summary: Pulivendla ".

External links