Congress stakes claim to YSR's political legacy

In a clear attempt by the Congress to claim Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's political legacy, his diary was released in the national capital Friday in the presence of senior party leaders.

The late Andhra Pradesh chief minister's close aide and Congress MP K. V.P. Ramachandra Rao has brought out the diary which he wrote during the 'padayatra', his 64-day walkathon in 2003, which catapulted Congress to power in the state the next year.
Senior Congress leaders including Motilal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Digvijay Singh, R. K. Dhawan and Vaylar Ravi attended the diary release function at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.
The leaders party described YSR as a staunch Congress leader and disciplined solider of the party. "He was a hardcore Congressman. His rich political legacy belongs to Congress. No one else can claim it," said Ravi.
Vora recalled how YSR held Nehru-Gandhi family in high esteem and named all development and welfare schemes after Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
What has triggered speculations in political circles is the message sent by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Even the invitation card sent by Ramachandra Rao, carried her name.
State Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana, film actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, several state ministers and MPs attended the function.
YSR, as the late leader was popularly known, died in a helicopter crash in Sep 2009, a few months after he led the party to second successive term in the state.
Sidelined by the leadership, his son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy quit the party in 2010 and floated YSR Congress Party last year.
Though Ramachandra Rao did not join YSR Congress party, his rivals see him as Jagan's man in the Congress party. At a party meeting held at state Congress office last month, Ramachandra Rao paid tributes to YSR and lamented the absence of his portraits in the meeting hall.
Ramachandra Rao, a member of Rajya Sabha, is reportedly trying to bring Congress and YSR Congress closer. He is making the attempts in the backdrop of a recent survey by a television channel, which predicts YSR Congress will sweep 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Political observers feel in the absence of a charismatic leader in the state, the Congress party wants to cash in on the still popular image of YSR. The YSR Congress party has succeeded doing the same by sweeping the by-elections in June.
PTI