Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Powering the Congress to a spectacular win in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections Andhra Pradesh,Y S Rajasekhara Reddy,who was sworn in on Wednesday as the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term,has emerged as an unassuming,crafty leader.
Overcoming a united opposition and anti-incumbency factor,YSR as he is popularly known,has romped home with ease winning for Congress 33 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and bagging 156 seats in the 294-member AP assembly.
The only Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh to complete a full five-year term and also retain it,Reddy,59,took charge of the state in 2004 at a difficult time for the party which had been out of power in the state for ten years.
It was a tough challenge for Reddy,the son of a mason in Kadapa district,but he has always thrived in difficult times.
After graduating in medicine and practising for a while,Reddy,groomed by a family deeply involved ion public service,began his political career with Congress in mid-1970s.
Having recognised his leadership qualities,the then Prime Minister and AICC president Indira Gandhi made him the chief of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee way back in 1982.
But Reddy quit Congress following a split and joined Reddy Congress in revolt against Indira Gandhi. After the Reddy Congress was disbanded,he returned to the parent party and went on to become the PCC president again in 1997 when Telugu Desam Party was going strong and his erstwhile party colleague N Chandrababu Naidu was calling the shots in the state.
Reddy vowed to dislodge Naidu from power in 1999 or take political ‘sanyas’ but failed in his attempt. However,his big moment came in 2004 when he spearheaded the almost written-off Congress to victory.
A Congress government was formed in the state after a gap of 10 years. It was widely acknowledged in Congress that it was Reddy’s 1450-km padayatra (foot march) in 2003 that helped the party regain power and after the poll in 2004,he was the automatic choice of the high command for the Chief Minister’s post.
Reddy made his maiden entry into the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 1978 from his home town Pulivendula. Having represented the constituency in 1983,1985 and 1989,he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991 from Kadapa and consecutively thereafter till 1998.
Reddy’s stint as Chief Minister was as much controversial as popular. On the one hand,he attracted the people by introducing many populist schemes like permanent housing,monthly pensions and health insurance.
On the other hand,he was targeted by the opposition over alleged corruption,nepotism and abuse of power. Unlike his predecessors,Reddy had little trouble within the party and enjoyed a free run for five years. In the process,he also cemented his place in the good books of the Congress high command.
Even on the contentious Telangana issue,the Congress high command chose to back Reddy’s line despite losing political friends like Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Communist Party of India.
His clout went up further when Congress wrested about seven seats in Telangana region in the bye-elections in 2008. And,it was only on his assurance that Congress decided to venture into 2009 elections without any ally even as opposition parties joined hands and a new party like the Praja Rajyam emerged.
In the end,however,Rajasekara Reddy had the last laugh steering the party to a comfortable win the state. In his second innings,Reddy holds out the promise of giving a major thrust to information technology,biotechnology,industrial and agricultural production greater public-private partnership.
