‘We are shocked by YSR’s death’

The Andhra Pradesh Governor, N D Tewari, on Thursday described the tragic death of the Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajshekhera Reddy and four others in a helicopter crash about 40 nautical miles east of the Kurnool as one of the saddest moments in his career.

Senior Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury said: “He was a very hands on Chief Minister. He did not hesitate to work hard, fight hard for issues dear to him. It is really very difficult to talk about him in the past tense.”

Asad Owaisi, the sitting MP from Hyderabad and president of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), described Reddy as a down to earth man, a person with a great temperament, a man of the masses.

He said that he appreciated the good work done by YSR. He said that he was the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to do a lot of work for Muslims in the state. He was also the first to provide reservation of seats in educational institutions for thousands of Muslim boys and girls.

The overall sentiment was that he was a man who focused keenly on development-oriented issues and achieved many of his objectives. Not only people within his own party respected him, but also by the Opposition. He was a tall leader in Andhra Pradesh politics.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Yerran Naidu said: “We are shocked by YSR’s death”.