It is exactly two years since our former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy met with unfortunate and untimely death in a helicopter crash in the Nallamala forests.
Controversies with regard to his death apart, the people of the state are not able to forget this “great leader,” who had made an indelible mark on their life, directly or indirectly.
And the state politics is yet to recover from the shock created by his death.
For the last two years, there has been a political uncertainty in the state; not only the Congress party but also the opposition parties, particularly the Telugu Desam, is not in a position to claim the people’s mandate.
The political situation in the state has become chaotic with the split in the Congress party following the exit of YSR’s son and Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy who floated his own political party – YSR Congress; and an upsurge in the movement for separate Telangana state and unrest in the people on the issues of corruption and poor administration.
So, the state is clearly missing the leadership of a dynamic leader like YSR.
The biggest sufferer of his absence is definitely the Congress party, which is facing a bankruptcy of leadership.
The stop-gap arrangement of veteran leader K Rosaiah did not work out as he lacked the dynamism to lead the party single-handedly though his performance as an administrator was just okay. His successor N Kiran Kumar Reddy not only lacks the dynamism and leadership qualities, but also lacks administrative skills. One wonders whether there is any government in the state or not.
The party appeared to have got some dynamism with the appointment of Botsa Satyanarayana as the Pradesh Congress Committee president, but he appears to be more interested in grabbing power from Kiran Reddy, than infusing life into the party.
The entry of megastar Chiranjeevi has only ensured some safety to the Kiran government, but it has not helped the Congress party in any way.
Some people argue the Congress party position would have been better had it pampered Jaganmohan Reddy and made him as the chief minister of YSR. May be this is true, but unfortunately, he did not give any such scope or time to the Congress leadership. In his eagerness to grab power, he rubbed the Congress high command on wrong shoulder and that led to the confrontation. A little patience and diplomacy on his part would have brought stability not only to the state and the party, but also to Jagan. He had chosen the path of confrontation and that landed him in neck-deep troubles in the form of CBI and ED investigations. Unless there is a dramatic turn of events in the state politics, the chances of having mid-term elections at this stage are bleak.
Even if mid-term elections are held now, the chances of Jagan coming to power single-handedly are also bleak because of the corruption cases and the Telangana factor.
So, one has to wait for almost three years from now to overcome this uncertain situation. Till such time, YSR ghost will be revolving around the state!
