A day before Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi launched his Praja Rajyam Party on August 26 last year, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy made the moves that would eight months later deliver a stunning victory to the Congress in the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

With elections less than eight months away, the matinee idol’s raging popularity could mean a formidable political foe for the Congress. That was not YSR’s only worry. His main rival, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, was already making the moves to stitch together an alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Left parties. “He foresaw that the party could lose its grip if he let Chiranjeevi and the TDP run the show. A quiet warning went to MLAs who were neglecting their constituencies to either perform or face the axe. Not getting enough support from a worn-out Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the Chief Minister also took it upon himself to popularise the various government schemes for the poor. He emphasised that come what may, the Congress had to stay one step ahead,” says Congress leader Dr Tulasi Reddy.

YSR also drew strength from his son Jagan Mohan, a successful industrialist and managing editor of Telugu daily Sakshi, and a few confidants like Rajya Sabha MP KVP Ramachandra Murthy, and ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Savita Indra Reddy and K Rosaiah. Rosaiah, the Finance Minister, never flinched whenever YSR demanded more funds for the government’s many schemes that included Rs 2-per-kg rice, free medical treatment for BPL families, free power to farmers, pension scheme for widows and the most popular ‘Indiramma’ free housing scheme.

... contd.