Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (యెడుగూరి సందింటి రాజశేఖరరెడ్డి; 8 July 1949 – 2 September 2009), popularly known as YSR, was the 14th chief minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, serving from 2004 to 2009.
Reddy was elected to the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Lok Sabha from the Kadapa constituency for four terms and to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for five terms from the Pulivendula constituency. He won every election he contested. In 2003, he undertook a three-month-long padayatra, or walking tour, covering in 60 days during the very hot summer months, across 11 districts in United Andhra Pradesh as a part of his election campaign. He led his party to victory in the following general and assembly elections held in 2004, and did the same in 2009.
On 2 September 2009, a helicopter carrying Reddy went missing in the Nallamala Forest area. The next morning media reported that the helicopter wreckage had been found on top of Rudrakonda Hill, from Kurnool. The five people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Over a hundred people were reported to have committed suicide on hearing the news of his death.
Personal life
Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy was born on 8 July 1949 into a Christian Reddy middle class family as eldest of five sons at Pulivendula. Rajasekhara Reddy completed his medical studies in Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College, Gulbarga, Karnataka and served as medical officer at CSI-Campbell Mission Hospital, Jammalamadugu, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh after completing his studies. In 1973, he established a 70-bed charitable hospital before entering politics. His father, Raja Reddy, was killed in a bomb attack on 23 May 1998.
Reddy was married to Vijaya Lakshmi. They had one son, politician Y. S. Jagan Mohan, and one daughter, Y. S. Sharmila. Reddy's younger brother Y. S. Vivekananda is also a Congress politician.
Reddy's parents were devout Christians, as was Reddy, who was buried according to Christian rites. Reddy visited Bethlehem and other historically important Christian places in Israel twice. He also visited the Hindu temple of Tirupati regularly.
Early political career
Reddy entered active politics in 1978 and won the Pulivendula constituency same year and became Minister of State for Rural Development (1980–82), and later shifted to Excise Minister (1982) and Education Minister (1982–83). He continued to retain the same constituency in 1983 and 1985, even when Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao swept to power and the party fared badly in the latter, which saw Indira Gandhi making him State president of the party. He even continued the winning streak for Kadapa constituency for four terms in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Lok Sabha. His return to state politics saw him winning 1999 Assembly elections from same Pulivendula constituency during which he served as Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh State Assembly (1999–2004), but his subsequent winning in 2004 Assembly elections saw him sworn in as 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh serving full-term. He won 2009 Assembly elections and continued his tenure as 15th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, which was abruptly cut short by his death on 2 September 2009.
Chief Ministership
First term
During his tenure as Chief Minister, the government of Andhra Pradesh undertook the following projects: On the first day of his tenure in 2004, he provided free electricity for farmers, a campaign project. A health insurance program for rural people living below the poverty line (white card holders), known as Rajiv Arogya Shree, was instituted to pay the entire cost of any necessary surgery up to a maximum of . A free public ambulance service was originally started by Satyam and then adopted by Andhra Pradesh. The Pavala Vaddi program provided loans at 3% interest to encourage small businesses and entrepreneurship by rural women. Indiramma illu was a program started to construct heavily subsidised housing for the rural poor. A rice scheme provided a kilogram of rice for two rupees to reduce hunger. The minimum support price for rice was also raised. Full reimbursement of college tuition for the underprivileged and reservations for minorities were instituted. The main emphasis during Reddy's tenure was on social welfare, with a majority of his projects targeted at reducing rural poverty. Apart from these schemes, his government was a role model in implementing the central government's flagship program NREGA. His tenure also saw the significant weakening of the violent extremist left-wing Naxalite movement that was rampant in the state when he assumed office in 2004.