Meet the 'man of masses'

At 06:32 pm on Wednesday as he steps forward to take the oath of office of Chief Minister for a second consecutive term at the Lal Babahdur Stadium in the heart of Hyderabad, 60-year old Yeduguri Sandanti Rajasekhkara Reddy will be making history in more ways than one.

He is the first Congressman to return as Andhra Pradesh chief minister for second consecutive term in almost four decades. He is also the first to be elected as the leader of Congress legislature party for third consecutive term as he had also led the party from opposition benches during 1999-2004.

P V Narasimha Rao was the last chief minister to return for a second consecutive term but he ruled for six months in the first term and another 10 months after the election before being sacked. Since then, Jalagam Vengal Rao was the only chief minister to be in power for the longest period of four years and three months. All remaining seven chief ministers fell to the dissidence, group rivalries and the whims of the party high command within months.

That YSR completed five years in power with out a whimper of dissidence and led the party single-handedly back to power speak volumes about the hold he now enjoys over the party in the state and the backing from the high command. It can safely be said that never in the past had any state satrap of Congress enjoyed such wholehearted support from bigwigs in Delhi and massive popularity at the state level.

"Never in the past had the state got such good governance, a judicious mix of the development and welfare programs to reach out to each and every family. That is why people have extended their support. The credit goes to YSR. He is the real hero," said state's senior most Congress leader and finance minister K Roshaiah, praising the leadership of Dr Reddy.

By personally calling YSR to congratulate him and pat his back, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi has also made it clear that YSR was the man of the moment as far as the party leadership was concerned. By not only retaining the power at the state but also sending the largest contingent of 33 Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh, YSR has further fortified his position.

This was obvious from reports that the high command has given YSR a free hand to pick and chose whoever he wants in the state and central cabinet from the state.

The man from Kadapa is at the highest point of his more than three-decade-long career, which started with his election to the state assembly in 1978 from the family fiefdom of Pulivendula on the Reddy Congress ticket. But soon he defected to Indira Congress and became a minister in the very first tenure.

Born on July 8, 1949 to YS Raja Reddy at Pulivendula in Cuddpah district, YSR completed his medical studies at the M R Medical College, Gulbarga, in 1976 and served as house surgeon at Medical College, Tirupati -- a profession he had to discontinue after becoming an active politician.

The big moment for him came after the Congress was decimated in the NTR wave in 1983 and lost power for the first time in the state. Indira Gandhi handpicked him to lead the Congress party in the state and restore the morale of the party.

However, the hot-tempered leader from Rayala Seema seldom enjoyed good relation with any senior leader and was labelled as perennial dissident, as almost every Congress chief minister became the target of his dissident activity.

So fierce was the internal fight of Congress that when communal riots broke out in Hyderabad in 1990 claiming more than 200 lives, then Chief Minister Channa Reddy blamed Rajasekhara Reddy for it, saying it was conspiracy to oust him from power.

At another time, he came under criticism after his supporters threw shoes at the Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao and the Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy during a public meeting in Kadapa.

But finally it was YSR who was once again given the reigns of the party during the 1999 elections when the Congress increased it strength from 26 to 90. But power remained an elusive dream.

In 2003, the Congress fortunes took a dramatic turn with YSR taking an unusual step of going on a statewide 'Padyatra' under searing heat wave conditions. He walked more than 1600 km, creating yet another record of sorts, and interacted with thousands of people individually -- especially farmers suffering from drought conditions, debt burden and high power tariff.

The marathon walk earned him the nickname of 'Man of Masses' and in YSR's own words enabled him to understand the problems and sufferings of the poor and the farmers and the pathetic conditions in the rural areas. "It was during the Padyatra that the idea of supplying free electricity to the farmers came to me," he said.

So when in 2004, aided by intense anti incumbency wave against TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, CPI-M and the CPI,  YSR stormed to power, his first signature was on the file pertaining to the free electricity to the farmers.

However, the flagship program that many believe earned the gratitude of farmers to YSR was Jalayaganam under which 46 major irrigation projects were taken up by his government. But it also opened the flood gates of charges of corruption and irregularities and it became a major issue in the election campaign.

Opposition also targeted YSR and his family alleging that his son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's companies were being used to stash away the black money earned from contractors and miners.

But as the results showed, the opposition failed to make it stick on YSR and he had the final laugh.

However not every thing is as hunky dory for YSR as it appears at this moment of celebrations. First the Congress's strength in the state assembly has come down from 185 to 156, merely 8 more than the required simple majority in the House of 294.