Few state-level leaders can aspire to enjoy the admiration and adoration expressed by editors of Urdu newspapers for the “charismatic” Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy after his tragic death in a helicopter crash. According to Rashtriya Sahara (September 5), “the passing away of such a leader due to a tragic accident is a great loss not only for the Congress or for Andhra Pradesh but for the entire country, because he had all those qualities that could have made him a great national leader in future.” Talking of YSR’s success in the 2004 Assembly elections, Hyderabad-based daily, Siasat, in its editorial (September 4) says that “this success can be attributed to his individual efforts, or to the imaginative and popular schemes for people’s welfare launched by him.” The paper adds: “The padayatra undertaken by Dr. Reddy in 2003 to create an anti-government wave among the people can be described as a milestone in his political life. And, in a way, this padayatra brought about an end to the days of the Telugu Desam. Delhi-based Jadeed Khabar, in an editorial on the same day writes: “It is not an ordinary instance that 60 persons sacrifice their lives on the accidental death of a politician. At a time when esteem for politicians is very low in the eyes of the people and the graph of their popularity is falling, these deaths prove that there is an acute dearth of truthful, honest and credible leaders in the country.”

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