Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy, who was popularly known as YSR, died in a helicopter crash over Nallamala forest in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on September 2.
Nearly 24 hours after the helicopter, carrying him and his four assocaites, went missing, the Indian Air Force rescue teams traced the wreckage of the helicopter at the top of Rudrakonda hill. The charred bodies of the Chief Minister and others were recovered by army commandos from the hostile terrain. Born on July 8, 1949, in a Protestant Christian family at Pulivendula in Kadapa disitrict, YSR was elected to the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha from the Kadapa constituency for four consecutive terms and to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for the fifth term from the Pulivendula constituency.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has condoled his death. In a condolence message released from Haridwar, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Dr Manmohan Vaidya said: “It was at the Akhil Bharatiya office-bearers’ meeting going on in Haridwar on September 3 that we received the news of the tragic death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash. All office-bearers including Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat and Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi were shocked to hear the sad news. We all share this unbearable pain with his family memebrs, people of Andhra Pradesh and workers of the Congress Party.”
All the BJP-ruled state governments declared a two-day state mourning as a mark of respect to the departed soul. At the BJP headquarters in New Delhi too, the party flag was flown at half-mast. (FOC)
