Reacting to the tragic death of the Andhra Pradesh chief minister in a chopper crash, Congress President Sonia Gandhi almost choked as she spoke about Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy — one of her favourite chief ministers: “In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, everyone thought that we will do badly in Andhra Pradesh. But he used to assure us whenever he came to Delhi that we will return to power. Today, all of us have returned but he couldn’t come back…”
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) hurriedly met today to mourn the death of its most successful chief minister in recent times. In the meeting, Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P Chidambaram were the only two speakers. While Gandhi showered praises on the departed chief minister and how he knew the pulse of the people, the home minister gave a chilling account of how the chopper lost control due to bad weather and hit a hill.
Later Gandhi said: “He was one of our most charismatic leaders. We were hoping and praying day and night that YSR (as the chief minister was fondly called) would be back in his feet alive, we were hoping for the miracle to happen. Suddenly, today morning, around 8.20 am, we got this terrible news.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi will go to Andhra Pradesh tomorrow following the death of the chief minister. Rahul Gandhi may also join them in Hyderabad. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has already reached Hyderabad to console the bereaved family.
Gandhi described YSR’s death as a “terrible loss” for the party, while many in the Congress are already worried about the party’s future in Andhra Pradesh.
Reddy, who rose from the grassroots level through the Youth Congress route, not only single-handedly led the 2004 Assembly elections and routed the chief minister of 10 years, N Chandrababu Naidu, but also helped the Congress cross the historic 200-seat mark in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections by contributing 33 MPs from his state.
Significantly, Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the southern India where the Congress is running the government. Party general secretary B K Hariprasad, who knew YSR for over two decades, told Business Standard: “He was not a hi-fi personality. But he was an extremely popular CM. He used to tour the state constantly, maintain his links with the grassroots level. The amount of work he has done in irrigation and NREGA is simply outstanding!” Even CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury admitted that Reddy fought for people’s issues.
Earlier in the day, the party’s core committee met at the prime minister’s residence, followed by a Cabinet meeting. In the core committee meeting and later in the CWC meet, Chidambaram gave a detailed account of how bad weather forced the chopper pilot divert from the scheduled route and then the chopper hit a hill. All the charred bodies were found in the wreckage. YSR was identified partially by his face and his shoes.
The central government has constituted an inquiry committee to probe the accident.
The four-member committee is headed by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd Chairman and Managing Director R K Tyagi. It will give its report in two months. The panel will also take assistance of experts from the Indian Air Force, if required.
