India bids adieu to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Reddy
Saturday, 5 September 2009
India Friday bade adieu to one of its biggest mass leaders, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S.R. Reddy, amid huge emotional outpouring spilling to the streets and backlanes of the southern Indian state.
Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash in a remote area of Andhra Pradesh amid heavy rains Wednesday.
Friday's huge gathering at his funeral is not often witnessed in those of politicians in the country, said political analysts.
Along with the 60-year-old politician, his Principal Secretary S. Subramanyam, Chief Security Officer A.S.C. Wesley, and two pilots, Group Captain S.K. Bhatia and co-pilot M.S. Reddy, were also killed when their chopper crashed atop a hill in the pouring rain in the dense forest region of Kurnool, some 250 kms from state capital Hyderabad.
The bodies of the five were recovered 24 hours after they went missing, in what's claimed to be India's biggest-ever search operation, involving Army, Air Force, police and local tribals.
"The emotional outpouring in the final journey of Reddy reminds of the huge funeral procession of two former Indian Prime Ministers -- Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by two of her own security guards in 1984, and her son Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suicide bombers in 1991. Now, Reddy got this honor. It appeared India is mourning the death of a mass leader who single-handedly revived the Congress party's fortunes in Andhra Pradesh," said political analyst Professor Ajay Singh.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who described Reddy as the mascot of governance, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress Ministers, and several other leaders cutting across party lines were in Hyderabad Friday to pay tribute to him.
Reddy was laid to rest in his native constituency of Pulivendula in the state's Cudappa district with full state honors and in accordance with rites of Christianity, which is Reddy's religious belief.
Before she boarded a flight to Hyderabad, Sonia Gandhi said in the national capital that Reddy's death "is a huge loss for the party, it is a loss for all of us, his colleagues, for the state of Andhra Pradesh and the country". -- Xinhua
Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash in a remote area of Andhra Pradesh amid heavy rains Wednesday.
Friday's huge gathering at his funeral is not often witnessed in those of politicians in the country, said political analysts.
Along with the 60-year-old politician, his Principal Secretary S. Subramanyam, Chief Security Officer A.S.C. Wesley, and two pilots, Group Captain S.K. Bhatia and co-pilot M.S. Reddy, were also killed when their chopper crashed atop a hill in the pouring rain in the dense forest region of Kurnool, some 250 kms from state capital Hyderabad.
The bodies of the five were recovered 24 hours after they went missing, in what's claimed to be India's biggest-ever search operation, involving Army, Air Force, police and local tribals.
"The emotional outpouring in the final journey of Reddy reminds of the huge funeral procession of two former Indian Prime Ministers -- Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by two of her own security guards in 1984, and her son Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suicide bombers in 1991. Now, Reddy got this honor. It appeared India is mourning the death of a mass leader who single-handedly revived the Congress party's fortunes in Andhra Pradesh," said political analyst Professor Ajay Singh.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who described Reddy as the mascot of governance, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress Ministers, and several other leaders cutting across party lines were in Hyderabad Friday to pay tribute to him.
Reddy was laid to rest in his native constituency of Pulivendula in the state's Cudappa district with full state honors and in accordance with rites of Christianity, which is Reddy's religious belief.
Before she boarded a flight to Hyderabad, Sonia Gandhi said in the national capital that Reddy's death "is a huge loss for the party, it is a loss for all of us, his colleagues, for the state of Andhra Pradesh and the country". -- Xinhua