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Andhra?s CM-in-waiting
He was Chandrababu Naidu's closest friend in college. They started together in politics, contested the elections together and became ministers together in the T. Anjaiah cabinet.
He was Chandrababu Naidu's closest friend in college. They started together in politics, contested the elections together and became ministers together in the T. Anjaiah cabinet.
However, while Naidu went on to become the chief minister, that too the longest serving Andhra CM, the other has all along lost the race for the top job by a whisker.
Meet Dr Y.S. Rajsekhara Reddy (YSR), the permanent "CM-in-waiting".
He has not lost a single election, having been elected for four terms each to the Assembly and Parliament, in a political career spanning 26 years. Yet, when the Congress came to power in the state, he was in Parliament and when he opted for the Assembly, the party was in the Opposition.
Anyone in his position would have given up, not the ‘Kadapa tiger’ (as his followers call him). He is making his third attempt for the CM's post.
YSR is on a statewide "Jaitra Yatra" to garner support for party candidates and in the process, establishing his claim to the top slot. This is his second yatra in a year. Having covered Telangana, he is now in coastal Andhra.
Taking a leaf from the winning roadshows of the late NTR in 1982, YSR is literally living on the road. A trailer serves as his bathroom, he eats under the shade of roadside trees and sleeps in his rath.
Chandrababu Naidu calls all this a ‘gimmick’. "Is it necessary to sleep under trees or in a tent and wash oneself in a van? One can stay at a decent place and yet continue with campaigning," he says.
Yet, this style has endeared YSR to the masses. He is drawing huge crowds everywhere, be it the Naxalite hinterland or the tribal-dominated areas.
People often wait hours to catch a glimpse of YSR. Even at Visakhapatnam, where a joint rally of Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Chandrababu Naidu was a washout, YSR's roadshow stalled traffic for over an hour.
YSR predicts a landslide victory for the Congress.
