HYDERABAD (Commodity Online): Dr Y S Rajashekhara Reddy was every bit a commodities man unlike his predecessor Chandra Babu Naidu who gave more prominence to ‘information technology’ over other sectors. In the death of Reddy, the nation as well as his home state Andhra Pradesh has lost a leader who believed in upliftment of the rural and backward regions of the state. A commitment that helped him win the 2004 State Assembly elections to eventually become the Chief Minister over coming the halo of CEO of the State created by his predecessor Chandra Babu Naidu

Born into a family which traditionally had large land-holdings, his family made its fortunes in 1970’s and 1980’s mining barite, an industrial mineral used in the oil industry. Trained in medicine, his heart was with the rural community ever since he began his political career.

The importance he gave to water crisis in Rayalseema, one of the backward regions, while he started his career as a legislator was proof enough of his commitment to rural heartland of Andhra Pradesh. His 1500 Km long Padayatra in 2003 while he was Opposition leader brought him closer to the rural people and their problems.
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In a statement, Sajjan Jindal, Assocham President said that Reddy was a workaholic who devoted all his time and energies for the uplift of poor and brought Andhra in the roadmap of leading industrially developed states of Indian union. His sad and untimely demise is a great loss to the nation as a whole.

As Chief Minister, he devoted more time and resources to agriculture although some of his schemes such as free power to farmers created controversies. He allocated Rs 16,000 cr for irrigation projects, connecting two rivers Krishna and Godavari, establishing new reservoirs and lift irrigation systems.

Rajashekhara Reddy believed in balanced development of the state through investments in agriculture, industry, IT, biotechnology and allied sectors.
“The industrial development of state of Andhra has taken place due to his investment friendly policies which resulted into a lot of domestic and overseas investments in all parts of Andhra and it’s interiors. Indian inc. will greatly miss him,” Sajjan Jindal of ASSOCHAM said.
Venu Srinivasan, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said that"during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the State has made remarkable achievements in industrial development and the recent World Bank Report also acknowledged Andhra Pradesh as one of the Best States for doing business." The nation has lost a visionary, inspiring and motivating leader, CII chief said.

Reddy held the position of Minister for Rural Development in his state during 1980-82, Excise Miniser in 1982 and Education Minister in 1982-3.
He led Congress to victory in 2004 Loksabha and Assembly polls when Congress had no chance of a comeback overshadowed by the glory of N Chandra Babu Naidu. Even before the NREGA’s became a reality nation wide, Reddy had launched his own “Gruel Centres” to combat hunger across Telengana and Rayalseema regions of the State. Among his notable achievements for the State include the launch of Agriculture Technology Mission in 2006 and appointing an enthusiastic Agriculture Minister Raghuveera Reddy from Anantaur, the district that suffered the worst of the crisis due to drought.

”No other State declared compensation payments to so many families affected by the suicide of their breadwinners. Andhra Pradesh set up a Commission, chaired by Professor Jayati Ghosh, to study the entire gamut of agrarian distress. The macro-policies of the State and the Centre conflicted with the thrust of the Commission’s excellent report, but this was still the first such effort by any State to engage with the farm crisis,”writes P Sainath in The Hindu.

YSR was a popular political figure in the South Indian politics.Born in Pulivendula, Andhra Pradesh to Y. S. Raja and Jayamma Reddy on July 8, 1949.YSR nurtured an interest in politics since his student days. Reddy was elected as the president of his college student's union while studying medical science in M.R Medical College of Gulbarga University, in neighboring Karnataka.He was also president of the House Surgeon's Association of S.V. Medical College, Tirupati,YSR also served as Medical Officer at the Jammalamadugu Mission Hospital for a brief period. In 1973, he established a 70-bed charitable hospital, named after his father Y.S. Raja Reddy at Pulivendula.

Reddy was one of those rare politicians of the country who never tasted defeat in electoral politics. Reddy came back to power in 2009 with a slogan "Development and the credibility." In the elections, Congress secured the required majority in the assembly with 156 seats and also won 33 Lok Sabha seats.