Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

Who Is Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy?

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is a well-known politician from India. He was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, which is a big deal in Indian politics. We can also call him Y. Reddy for short. He is famous for the great work he did in Andhra Pradesh.

Early Life and Background

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was born on July 8, 1949.

Career and Claim to Fame

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy had a very successful career in politics. He was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2009. He also won many elections to the Lok Sabha and the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. You can find out more about him on his Wikipedia page.

His Work

As a politician, he worked hard to help the people of Andhra Pradesh. He was elected many times, which shows that people liked his work. You can visit his website to learn more about his life and work.

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was born on July 8, 1949, which makes him 77 years old. His zodiac sign is Cancer. People with this sign are often very caring and sensitive.

Fun Facts and Legacy

So, we know that Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is a famous politician from India. He was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and did a great job. He was born on July 8, 1949, and is 77 years old. His zodiac sign is Cancer, which is a very emotional sign. We can look back at his career and see all the great things he achieved.

We can remember him as a hardworking politician who helped many people. He won many elections, which shows that people trusted him. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is still remembered today for his good work.

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of 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. He 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.

This profile of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy covers Padayatra, Personal Life, Career and Rise to Fame, Andhra PCC Chairman (1983-85) and Leader of the Opposition (1999-2004).

On 2 September 2009, a helicopter carrying Reddy went missing in the Nallamala Forest area. It was later confirmed to have crashed with all five people including Reddy pronounced dead.

Padayatra of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

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.

Personal Life of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

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.

Career and Rise to Fame

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. In 1989, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Cuddapah.

He won from Kadapa Parliamentary constituency for four terms in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha. During his decade-long tenure, his constituencies were well developed with Concrete Roads and drinking water taps in almost every streets. Over the two decades of his career, His family ran several colleges in Pulivendla but the institutions were eventually handed over to Loyola College as no one in the family had time to run them.

Andhra PCC Chairman (1983-85)

Reddy served as the President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) for the first time from 1983 to 1985. He was appointed to this position by Indira Gandhi at the age of 34, following the Congress party's significant loss in Andhra Pradesh to the Telugu Desam Party in 1983. As state party president, he led the Congress party into the 1985 Assembly elections but was unable to overcome the popularity of the TDP led by N.T. Rama Rao.

Leader of the Opposition (1999-2004)

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy 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. 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. 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".

Chief Ministership (2004–09)

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.

Second term as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (2009)

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy 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 (after Kasu Brahmananda Reddy in 1969) 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 project'.

Death and Legacy

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 rated as 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.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y._S._Rajasekhara_Reddy), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.