Two tributes to YSR

The more complementary part from YSR: Searching For History's Verdict By K.V. Baparao
"His political success as a grassroots Congress leader is especially remarkable, given the AP tradition of senior Congress leaders who, almost without exception, made an infantile subservience to the High Command their sole qualification for high office; if they failed to obtain the Chief Minister's post, these leaders would seek to make the state ungovernable by anyone else, by engineering riots or perhaps a violent agitation. There was always a premise that the Congress High Command did not look kindly upon strong state leaders who were competent and popular in their own right, but will placate those who throw violent tantrums.

Given this climate, for YSR to have succeeded in balancing his personal power in the state with what is from all accounts an excellent relationship with the High Command, while taking his rivals along, speaks of a high degree of political astuteness and skill.

He also deserves special appreciation for taking steps to improve public access to health care, including emergency services. The ubiquitous presence of ambulances, and the increased use of modern hospitals and clinics by the poor, speaks of an interest in improving health matters on the part of the late Chief Minister who started out as a doctor. Because this has historically not been a widely-shared interest among the numerous doctor-politicians and doctor-businesspersons who populate the upper echelons of the state, YSR's death gives rise to concerns as to whether these nascent services are doomed to stagnate and perish from entropy, or whether they will grow into a serious policy of delivering measurable and accountable health services to all."


From Remembering YSR by Pushpa Iyengar:
"Stories were legion about him......And what a paradox it was that a man known as a “permanent dissident” had brought the Congress together after many years of bitter infighting."
I gather from some friends in Hyderabad that his principal secretary K Subramanyam who also died in the crash was an outstanding IAS officer. Apparently he came from very poor background and some local christians saw that he was bright and helped with his education. He married a christian lady and left two children behind. The son suffers from autism and the daughter is considered very bright.
P.S. See also Kuffir's post r.i.p. victims of hyderabad riots, december 1990. and the comments.
Some say that property rights have taken a tumble. Land and site occupation with the help of mobile goondas seemsto have increased.