Hyderabad, Sep 2 (IANS) Rich tributes were paid to late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on his third death anniversary Sunday.
His wife and YSR Congress party honorary president Vijayalakshmi, daughter Sharmila, son-in-law Anil Kumar, daughter-in-law Bharati, brother Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy and other family members paid tributes and offered special prayers at his grave in Idupulapaya in Kadapa district.
People from different parts of the state also reached Idupulapaya to pay homage to Rajasekhara Reddy, one of the most popular leaders in the state’s history.
YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known, was killed in a helicopter crash on this day in 2009.
The helicopter carrying him from Hyderabad to Chittoor district crashed amid bad weather in Kurnool district Sep 2. Four others including two pilots also died with him.
A large number of people including beneficiaries of several schemes launched by YSR also paid tributes at the YSR memorial in Kurnool district.
YSR’s family members and party leaders rued that Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was not allowed to pay tributes to his late father.
The MP from Kadapa was arrested by the CBI in May in disproportionate assets case and was since lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail here.
YSR Congress, founded by Jaganmohan Reddy after quitting Congress party in 2010, organised poor feeding and blood donation camps across the state to mark the death anniversary.
Despite the controversies surrounding YSR’s rule, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily and state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana paid tributes to the late leader by garlanding his statues in Hyderabad.
“YSR was our tallest leader from Andhra. We always remember him. He will always be alive in hearts of people,” said Moily.
However, like the last year, the death anniversary was a low-key affair. The ruling party continued to be in dilemma to whether to dump YSR’s legacy in view of the allegations of corruption against him.
One minister who was part of YSR’s cabinet is already in jail, another has been named in the chargesheet while some ministers were facing CBI probe for issuing orders to benefit individuals and companies which invested in Jaganmohan Reddy’s firms.
–Indo-Asian News Servuce
ms/mr
