I met the recently demised Chief Minister of AP, Dr. Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy, only a handful of times. All of those meetings were brief, one of the meetings I had with him was in Silicon Valley in May of 2007. I had over the years met Mr. Chandrababu Naidu and a handful of other politicians. There was no other person in public office that made the same impression on me as Dr. YSR did. He had an uncanny ability to not only comprehend a question that is posed to him fully but also to give answers that advanced my own understanding of the issue. That is a rare quality, one of many such rare traits that singled him out as a charismatic leader who could prevail and thrive in the churn of the Indian political spectrum.
Now, in the aftermath of his death, I read the dailies online and watch Indian TV. My association with India having begun over three decades ago, I consider myself part Indian to some extent and feel entitled to my opinions and the accuracy of my read on the developing dynamic. Upon hearing of the CM’s helicopter having gone missing and the eventual details unraveling over a painfully long twenty four hour period, I, like millions of others went into shock, all the hope I’d harbored they would be found safe, hopes against my better judgment, quickly closed up to absorb the shock.
I was in India when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. I can’t but help draw parallels to the situation then. A reluctant Rajiv Gandhi swathed in grief and horror reluctantly allowed the mantle of responsibility to be placed on his hesitant, unlearned shoulders. I was deeply skeptical at the time of such a move. I was also a lot younger then and wanted this country that I had visited for the first time then to not wallow in its ongoing chaos and didn’t comprehend fully how the Indian political playhouse was staged. But in the months following Mr. Rajiv Gandhi’s appointment to the top post in the country, I returned to the United States but followed with interest his developing confidence in the face of much adversity and his ability to eschew doubt and build trust even among those who were initially completely averse to the idea of his Prime Ministership.
Now, as the media pundits roll out their news stories in their anxiousness to keep viewers glued to their TV screens, I see a repeat scenario emerging. No sooner has the body of Dr. YSR been buried, or perhaps even before, there has been a broad spectrum of support forthcoming for his son to be named to the chief minister’s post. But instead of immediately dismissing the idea as a blatant pandering that we humans have to rally around a bereavement and uphold a token to become a replacement to offer salvo to those aggrieved, I did better this time. Looking at other ‘dynastic’ political enterprises, being in the US, the Kennedys come to mind, the Perons of Argentina and so on, I wondered why the concept was so widely derided. Yes, to award easy merit to undeserving candidates can sometimes be disastrous but to not award merit where it is due can be equally disastrous.
Looking at the recently concluded mammoth general elections in India held over a span of six weeks concluding from a two month grueling campaign, I was struck by the discipline of the electoral process and how well oiled it can be. Even in a country as massive as India, interlaced with complexities that have woven themselves into meshes of impregnable confusion at times, there comes the one day quiet period and lo and behold, the elections are underway. People vote and a party is elected or if the case is unfortunate, a coalition of parties is elected. With such a beehive of political activity, it would seem that the very system by its nature behooves a complex response in a complex environment. Then one ponders on the consequences of a particular action, what options does the government in AP have in appointing a replacement Chief Minister?
With my earlier warm comments of Dr. YSR, I may have given away where my sentiment lies but being an engineer, I like to rationalize my thought process. It is not always necessary to have a complex response to a complex situation. Simple responses can work well to allow the smooth flow of operations in a democratically elected state. Is there a process for replacement? What precedent can one point to outside of the Indira Gandhi/Rajiv Gandhi scenario? For the people of Andhra Pradesh, no one else today, can fill the vacuum created by such a mesmerizingly impressive leader as Dr. YSR Reddy other than his son. The people voted for Dr. YSR and have demonstrated a fanatical devotion to his son as well. No process or official by decree can neutralize this feeling. The events unfolding in the state following his sudden demise have been as tragic, with suicides of his die-hard fans reported in record numbers across the state. The easy way out in nominating Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is not necessarily the bad way out, it may just be the only way out for the Congress in the Center and for Congress in the State that can look forward to ongoing stability and nation building.
I went back and read articles and watched what footage was available from a broad swath of media that talked about the entire Lok Sabha elections in general but I was more interested at this time in reviewing how AP had fared and why the results turned out the way they did. Without question it appeared that as Rajdeep Sardesai, the IBN anchor said in his op-ed piece, that YSR emerging victorious was a “one man show”. Digging deeper, I found that his son had a similar cache that the father enjoyed. Is charisma hereditary? I don’t know the answer to that, engineers deal with more definite things but I certainly found that it’s an incredibly hard quality to emulate, replicate or fabricate.
Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s victory in contesting the parliament seat from Cuddapah with an astounding majority of one lakh votes makes him a juggernaut of sorts in the political arena anyhow. What is more compelling is his tutelage, from an early age on, he was born into his father’s political evolution. Like Indira Gandhi who was raised in a political family, sitting in the lap of the Mahatma as a child and developing a fierce passion for India which she treated as a mother would sometimes, scolding it, arbitrating certain unpopular issues and risking her political capital often because she felt a loving defensiveness toward the people and felt it her moral obligation to rescue it from itself at times. She was on her way to eventually accomplishing a goal to modernize India and raise its stature in the eyes of the West where most didn’t know if India belonged in Africa or Asia. This is true, my daughter’s classmate asked her why she was visiting Africa when she informed her in sixth grade that she was going to India for the summer.
Following Mrs. Gandhi’s death, Rajiv Gandhi coming to the helm of the country’s parliament and running it was interesting to watch, here was a person entirely uninitiated in the political way, utterly disinterested in politics, married to a beautiful young Italian woman for love and was for the most part less Indian than even I was, I thought at the time. He went on to be a sophisticated political player, bringing a discipline and strength of character to bear on a nation that was aching to reach out and climb into the vine of upward mobility that was gripping other Asian economies during that decade that could have well escaped India had it not been for his leadership.
I looked at Mr. Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s background, observing his daring entry into the media business when media empires around the world, especially here in the US were crumbling and was impressed with the runaway success Sakshi paper turned out to be. Encouraged by this success, he understood the importance of core content and leveraged that success into starting a television station with the same name. The TV station began with grand intentions and is yet to achieve the stature the newspaper has received but it’s still a viable presence and an important ally for a politically minded individual. The astuteness that he showed in getting both these entities started in record time from the ground up is testament to sheer strength of will and amazing restraint in how the organization is run.
When I look at the other contenders to the position of Chief Minister of AP, they don’t seem to have that magic combination that will cut it with the masses and allow for proper governance through the all-important consensus building. The current acting CM, Mr. K. Rosaiah, a former Finance Minister in YSR’s cabinet is a stalwart Congressman with incredible credentials but zero charisma, which seems to be the imperative glue that can hold the party together. The other players are almost embarrassingly unready for center stage in the State’s politics, Mr. Jaipal Reddy’s disavowal of AP politics keeps him happily ensconced in a job in the center where he restricts his trips to his constituency to the times that are necessary. He is eloquent and well spoken, which is a great attribute for anyone, more so for a political personality. Mrs. Purandeswari, the daughter of the former CM, Mr. NTR, is a stalwart in her own right, albeit she has a checkered career of political allegiance to the Congress, having broken with theTelugu Desam following her disagreement with brother-in-law Chandrababu Naidu, leader of the Telugu Desam and former CM of AP. Which leaves one with D. Srinivas, the PCC President, the man who couldn’t even win his own seat, which in my mind automatically precludes him from consideration for the top job.
My observations lead me to believe that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy is probably ill served in these tragic circumstances to be scrutinized so acutely about his readiness or capability to address the gamut of responsibilities that come with becoming a Chief Minister. He should be viewed as an MP who is young, dynamic, eager to serve an adoring public and energetic enough to take on the role of governing a state with the promise the state holds from all the programs his father implemented. He could be the true custodian of his father’s political legacy.
YSR was four years ahead in reflecting the sentiments of what the voter base wants and how to address their myriad needs. What is not fair is that there should be a greater discussion of his youthfulness and lack of experience than his accomplishments to date and his familiarity with AP Ministers, MLAs and the legislative process. It is also important to note that he can count on the ongoing guidance of his father’s bosom friend, Mr. KVP Ramachander Rao.
Not the least important point of all, he is not a seventeen year old who is being plucked out of school to run the State, he is a responsible adult, a father of two, a successful businessman and a politician who blew the numbers out of the water. Faced with this scenario, debate for debate’s sake seems like a moot point, prolonging a sense of uncertainty, stalling the momentum of the State and risking Congress’s chances in the coming elections. Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy comes equipped with a lot of the essential ingredients that go into the make-up of a leader has the populist appeal of a film star and probably, the most important factor of all, he is ready.
Written By Jorge Freyer
