YSR sworn-in as Andhra CM, emerges as a mass leader

Hyderabad:

Y S Rajashekhara Reddy is all set to be sworn-in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for his second consecutive term on Wednesday. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place at the L B Stadium in the evening. He was re-elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party on Tuesday evening. The new Cabinet is to be constituted on May 22.

Confident after a stunning victory both in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, YSR met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to discuss government formation. He also attended the meeting of the CWC as a special invitee.

While YSR is likely to retain many members of his previous Cabinet, 14 of his former ministers have lost the elections. To accommodate more loyalists, YSR may expand his Cabinet from 34 to 40 and is likely to reward Telangana with more ministerial posts this time.

Powering the Congress to a spectacular win in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections Andhra Pradesh, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was sworn in on Wednesday as the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term, has emerged as an unassuming, crafty leader.

Overcoming a united opposition and anti-incumbency factor, YSR as he is popularly known, has romped home with ease winning for Congress 33 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and bagging 156 seats in the 294-member AP assembly.

The only Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh to complete a full five-year term and also retain it, Reddy, 59, took charge of the state in 2004 at a difficult time for the party which had been out of power in the state for ten years.

It was a tough challenge for Reddy, the son of a mason in Kadapa district, but he has always thrived in difficult times.

After graduating in medicine and practising for a while, Reddy, groomed by a family deeply involved ion public service, began his political career with Congress in mid-1970s.

Having recognised his leadership qualities, the then Prime Minister and AICC president Indira Gandhi made him the chief of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee way back in 1982.

But Reddy quit Congress following a split and joined Reddy Congress in revolt against Indira Gandhi. After the Reddy Congress was disbanded, he returned to the parent party and went on to become the PCC president again in 1997 when Telugu Desam Party was going strong and his erstwhile party colleague N Chandrababu Naidu was calling the shots in the state.

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday evening took oath as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for a second consecutive term during a show of pomp and might at the L B Stadium here. Governor N D Tiwari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 60 year-old at 6.32 pm as more than 20,000 party workers, newly-elected MLAs, MPs and party leaders cheered him on.

YSR made history by becoming the first CM to have retained power since 1982 and to have completed a full term. YSR arrived at the jam-packed stadium with wife Vijaya Lakshmi and first-time MP son Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. YSR is likely to induct his ministers on May 22.

Immediately after the swearing-in, YSR approved the orders to increase the quota of Rs 2 per kg rice from the existing 20 kgs per month to 30 kgs and increase free power supply to farmers from the existing 7 hours to 9 hours. Both were part of the Congress manifesto.