A National Loss

Tragedy has struck the Congress and the nation once again. Perhaps the best Chief Minister of the country in terms of dynamism, political acumen and administrative efficiency, the Andhra Pradesh CM, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, 60, met with an untimely death when his chopper crashlanded on a hillock in deep forests some 49 nautical miles east of Kurnool in the morning of September 2, 2009 due to inclement weather (although his body as well as the bodies of the other four passengers of the ill-fated helicopter were recovered after intensive search operations nearly 24 hours later on account of adverse weather conditions as well as inaccessibility of the site of the crash). It was literally a bolt from the blue.

As Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy pointed out while offering his tributes to YSR, the Andhra Pradesh CM was the only head of a State Government in recent times who undertook and implemented so many welfare schemes with such dedication, sincerity and comprehensiveness. His irrigation and loan-waiver schemes as well as the project to provide cheap rice endeared the Congress to all sections of the rural populace. And therein lay the seeds of the party’s success in the 2009 elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assembly disproving all the pollsters.

YSR’s 63-day padayatra through rural Andhra Pradesh before the 2004 elections was instrumental in helping the Congress to exploit the anti-incumbency factor against the then ruling dispensation headed by TDP leader N. Chandrababu Naidu who, even while striving to transform Hyderabad into Cyberabad, did precious little for the rural poor. In contrast YSR attributed the success of his party at the hustings at that time to mobilisation of the ‘common man’ (aam aadmi) behind the party. If that was the scenario five years ago, the last elections this year witnessed a further consolidation of the aam aadmi’s support to the Congress thus resulting in the party’s unprecedented return to power in the State for a second term thanks to YSR’s innovative pro-people measures, prominent among which were active steps to successfully implement the NREGA.

YSR acquired national eminence on account of his tireless endeavours to translate into reality diverse programmes to help uplift those at the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder. He thus became a role-model before Congress leaders-cum-activists. A man of the masses he was constantly on the move monitoring the plans to benefit the poor and the needy. In his last interview before boarding the chopper in Hyderabad on September 2 he explained his objective of improving the delivery system, reaching out to the villagers and ensuring ration cards and water supply to them by such sudden visits to far-flung areas without prior notice. (Through his development work for the welfare of the toiling people in the rural regions in particular, YSR was also successful in substantially reducing the intensity of the Maoist depredations in Andhra Pradesh.)

And the universal outpouring of grief and sympathy cutting across political parties and subjective differences only highlight YSR’s unique stature not only in the State but the country as a whole. It would thus be pratically impossible to fill the void caused by the sudden, unexpected and tragic demise of such an outstanding personality who reached the zenith of his popularity only a few months ago this year. A national loss, indeed.

September 3 S.C.