Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (8 July 1949 – 2 September 2009), known as YSR, was an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress who was Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 2004 until his death. A doctor by training, he never lost an election, and his welfare schemes for farmers and the poor made him one of the most popular leaders the state has known. He died when his helicopter crashed in a forest.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy |
| Born | 8 July 1949, Jammalamadugu, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh |
| Died | 2 September 2009, Nallamala forest, Kurnool district (aged 60) |
| Education | M. R. Medical College, Gulbarga (MBBS) |
| Party | Indian National Congress |
| Offices | Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (2004–2009); Member of the Lok Sabha (four terms) |
| Spouse | Y. S. Vijayamma |
| Children | Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Y. S. Sharmila |
Early Life
He was born in the Rayalaseema region into a Christian family of the Reddy community. His father, Y. S. Raja Reddy, was a contractor and a powerful local figure in Pulivendula, in a district known for violent faction feuds; he was killed in a bomb attack in 1998.
The Doctor
He studied medicine at Gulbarga in Karnataka, where he was a student leader, and did his house surgeoncy at Tirupati. In 1973 he and his father opened a small charitable hospital at Pulivendula, where he treated patients for a token fee and became known as the rupee doctor. The family later founded colleges in the town.
Career
An unbeaten record
He was elected to the state assembly from Pulivendula in 1978 and became a minister at thirty-one. Over three decades he won six assembly and four Lok Sabha elections, the latter from Kadapa, without a defeat. He was twice president of the state Congress and, during the long years in which the Telugu Desam Party ruled the state, Leader of the Opposition.
The padayatra
In the summer of 2003, with the state in drought and many farmers taking their own lives, he walked some 1,400 kilometres through the countryside in about two months, in great heat. The march changed the mood of the state. In May 2004 the Congress and its allies swept the election, and he became Chief Minister on 14 May.
Chief Minister
His first act was to sign an order giving free electricity to farmers.
- **Jalayagnam:** a very large programme of irrigation projects
- **Aarogyasri (2007):** health insurance paying for surgery and serious illness for families below the poverty line, later copied by other states and by the national scheme
- **Fee reimbursement:** college fees paid for students of poorer families
- **Housing, pensions and rice at two rupees a kilogram**
- **The 108 ambulance service**
He was re-elected in 2009, an unusual second victory in a state that habitually voted governments out.
Criticism
Opponents alleged that contracts and land were given to favoured businessmen in return for investments in companies owned by his son. After his death the Central Bureau of Investigation filed cases against his son and several officials; the family has always denied wrongdoing.
Death
On the morning of 2 September 2009 he took off from Hyderabad by helicopter for a village meeting in Chittoor district. Contact was lost in bad weather over the Nallamala hills. After the largest search ever mounted in India, the wreckage was found the next day on a hilltop; all five on board had died. The news was followed by reports of many people dying of shock or by suicide.
Aftermath
His son’s claim to succeed him was rejected by the Congress leadership. Jagan Mohan Reddy left to found the YSR Congress Party, which won Andhra Pradesh in 2019. His daughter, Sharmila, later joined the Congress and heads its state unit, leaving the family politically divided.
Personal Life
He married Vijayamma (Vijaya Lakshmi), who later became a legislator. He always wore the white dhoti of the Telugu farmer. His home district of Kadapa was renamed YSR district in his memory.
Featured image: Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, from a 2010 postage stamp of India. Photo by India Post, Government of India, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
