It is exactly two years since the Congress party has come to power in the state for the second time again. It was on this day that great leader Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was sworn in as the chief minister for the second successive time.
Nobody will forget the way YSR had brought the Congress party into power again single handedly, braving tough contest from Telugu Desam Party, which had formed a “maha kootami” along with the Communist parties and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, besides of course the newly formed Praja Rajyam Party of the then most charismatic matinee idol K Chiranjeevi.
YSR had so much courage to declare well in advance that he would take the responsibility for the defeat or victory of the Congress in the elections.
It was because of his tremendous leadership qualities that the Congress high command had given him full powers both in the selection of candidates and chalking out of the campaign strategies. He had so much confidence on himself that he got the list of all the 294 party candidates approved in one go much ahead of all the other political parties. He single-handedly led the party campaign from the front and ensured that the party had come back to power with a comfortable margin.
It is a great misfortune of the people that YSR had to meet with tragic death in the most horrible accident. And all the great work that he had done for the party and the state has gone down the drain.
See what has happened to the Congress party and its government.
In the last two years, the Congress has witnessed such a downslide that it has completely lost the trust of the people.
The successive governments of K Rosaiah and that of N Kirankumar Reddy have miserably failed to implement the pro-people schemes introduced during the YSR government. Every section of the people – students, farmers, women and minorities are angry with the Congress government for betraying their faith.
The Congress could not fill the void created by YSR’s sudden demise. It could not project a single leader who could match the charisma and vision of YSR. Because of this leadership bankruptcy, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao, who was otherwise down in the dumps after YSR came back to power in the second stint, could raise his head and resurrect the Telangana movement and took it to a new heights. Had the YSR been alive, there would not have been any Telangana movement and KCR would have surely slipped into political oblivion. But with the revival of Telangana movement, the parties, including the Congress, are vertically divided and no leader could be acceptable to all the leaders in all parts of the state.
The Congress had one chance to retain the YSR spirit – of projecting his son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy as his political heir and promoting him to the chief minister post. But thanks to the anti-YSR lobby, Congress high command distanced this young leader, who had no other option but to come out and launch his own outfit – YSR Congress party.
The recent by-elections to Kadapa showed that he is the true heir of YSR. But because of his aggressive attitude and hastiness in ascending the throne, one wonders whether Jagan would be able to match the political acumen of his father. In any case, the people of the state are definitely missing YSR.
