Hardnews Exclusive: Remembering YSR

YSR must find his place in history. No CM before him or possible after will ever be able to do as much good or even bad as him for none will be as larger than life as him
Mohan Guruswamy

I first met Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy way back in 1978 at a reception for Congress MLAs at Greenlands, the official residence of the then Andhra Pradesh (AP) chief minister, Dr M Channa Reddy. The newly-formed Congress (I) had made quite a spectacular electoral debut and YSR was one of the new crop of young MLAs who swept into office.

1978 was a testing year for Indira Gandhi who was not only being hounded in Delhi by a vindictive Shah Commission egged and prodded along by an even more vindictive prime minister and home minister, but was also opposed by the Congress government in AP headed by J Vengal Rao. Many of the top Congress leaders from AP such as V Hanumantha Rao, S Jaipal Reddy and K Rosaiah were bitterly opposed to Mrs G and her new party. But she was put on the comeback trail, thanks to young and dynamic leaders like YSR and Chandrababu Naidu.

Even before I was formally introduced to YSR, I had heard much about him. The previous year he was involved in a shooting incident within the state secretariat premises. YSR belonged to Cuddapah and like many from the badlands of Rayalaseema, his family was in the thick of faction wars that are a hallmark of the region. The men out to kill him belonged to the faction headed by the Perla family. But what distinguished YSR was that though he was surprised, he was quick to whip out his revolver and fired back to injure one of the assailants.

The feud did not end there. In May 1998, YSR's father, YS Raja Reddy, was killed in a bomb attack near his hometown, Pulivendula, in Cuddapah district. The very next day one of the main suspects, Perla Uma Maheshwara Reddy, who incidentally was avenging his father's death, was hacked to death right in his home. YSR was the leader of the Congress Legislature Party. The Perla family had by then become the backbone of the Telugu Desam Party. With YSR in the Congress (I), a purely factional fight was by now a no-holds-barred political war. In the ten years since Raja Reddy was killed, the TDP puts its losses at nearly 530 killed and the Congress at about 70.

The legend of the Tiger of Cuddapah has its moorings in these bloody clan wars. YSR was indeed a doughty fighter and few dared cross his path. But he was an inspirational leader. His charisma made him a powerful leader. The Congress (I) had few like him in its long history. He was a self-assured and an immensely courageous leader, a far cry from the servile courtiers who flourish in our national parties.

Rajiv Gandhi, soon after his famous Bombay speech where he castigated the "power brokers" who he alleged have come to flourish in the party, refused to meet with him at New Delhi despite repeated requests from YSR. Incidentally, YSR was then the APCC President. YSR just let it be known that he would be quite willing to quit the party rather than stomach humiliation. Rajiv Gandhi met him the very next day. It has also been said that when Sonia Gandhi was contemplating unhorsing him from the post of CM because of complaints from business houses chaffing at the huge rents that YSR imposed for doing business in AP, he once again let it be known that he would then have to form a party of his own. Just as well she let him be because YSR bucking all odds gave the Congress more seats than in 2004 when it won 29 Lok Sabha seats. In fact, it was the AP tally of the Congress in 2004 than propelled it to power. YSR never let the party forget that and that he loyally bankrolled the party.