Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

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 (1989, 1991, 1996 and 1998) four terms to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa and was also elected (1978, 1983, 1985, 1999, 2004 and 2009) 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 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.
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.
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 of Y. S. Raja Reddy, as eldest of five sons. 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. His father Raja Reddy, was assassinated in a bomb attack on 23 May 1998.
Reddy was married to Vijaya Lakshmi. They had a son Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and a daughter Y. S. Sharmila. His son Jagan and younger brother Y. S. Vivekananda are also politicians. Reddy was a practicing Christian and visited Bethlehem, Palestine, twice.
Rajasekhara Reddy joined Indian National Congress in 1978 and won the 1978 legislative assembly 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 Parliamentary constituency for four terms in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha. Of the successful streak of his presentation for a decade, his constituencies are well developed with Concrete Roads and drinking water taps in streets almost. In the two decades of his career, His family run several colleges in Pulivendla but the institutions are handed over to Loyola College as no one in the family has time.
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.Always clad in dhoti in Andhra style, YSR is an expert in rural economy. 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.Lead the state-wide campaign yatras, he mobilised people's support in these marches for the party in the face of a hi-tech campaign and media blitzkrieg by the ruling party. It was now or never for Reddy. He had declared that he would quit politics if the Congress failed to return to power in the state. His close aides said he always had the ambition of becoming chief minister.In a protest against assassination plot for then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandrababu Naidu, He underscored the point that the State bureaucracy had become complacent.
Reddy led 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, a free public ambulance service, low interest loans to rural women, subsidised housing for the rural poor, subsidized rice, reimbursement of college fees for underprivileged and reservation for minorities. His tenure also saw the weakening of the violent extremist left-wing Naxalite movement that was rampant in the state. 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.
Apart from the last three 5 year plans, which advocated PPP in health-care, other factors led to starting of Aarogyasri in AP. Jayati Ghosh committee on the farmer's suicide in AP brought out the precarious health conditions due to economic distress in the agriculture sector and suggested free care of the poor by the private hospitals, which have benefitted from state subsidies. These recommendations of the report became convenient support to him, being a medical doctor himself, to provide this innovative health-care scheme for all, through corporate hospitals. Earlier CM relief fund had spent Rs. 168.52 crores to help 55,362 below the poverty line (BPL) patients needing hospitalization. Simultaneously, Dalit movement highlighted problems of young children with heart ailments in the state. Soon, He announced free heart surgeries for these children, by August 2006, 4600 children were operated under the CM relief fund. This magnanimous gesture set the stage for Aarogyasri scheme.
He led the congress party to victory in the 2009 assembly election, winning 156 seats in the assembly. He became the first incumbent chief minister from Congress since 1969 (Kasu Brahmananda Reddy made) to win and was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 20 May 2009.He termed the results the "people's victory" and vowed to continue welfare and development schemes, especially construction of irrigation projects.
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. The Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh said that inclement weather had forced the helicopter off course. 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. On 3 September, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed the crash of the helicopter and the death of all aboard along with Reddy. 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. An investigation eventually concluded that the factors that caused that crash was from mechanical issues and worse weather conditions.
Reddy's body was buried on 4 September at Idupulapai in Kadapa district with full state honors in accordance with Christian rites. 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. Finance minister Konijeti Rosaiah was sworn in as Chief Minister following Reddy's death.
Reddy was accused of amassing large amounts of money during his tenure as the Chief Minister. He is said to have used populist schemes like irrigation projects and housing schemes to his advantage and earned huge profits through them. 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". 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.
N. Chandrababu Naidu also called for Reddy's resignation after a 2007 Khammam police shooting resulted in eight deaths. 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 organization.
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. 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) and Yatra 2 (2024). In 2020, the Andhra Pradesh Government declared YSR Jayanti to be celebrated as Farmer's Day on 8 July every year.