Legacy of late Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy continued to haunt the ruling party as the oath taking ceremony of the new AP Youth Congress team on Tuesday witnessed repeated reference to him much to the embarrassment of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues.
Rajya Sabha member K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao created a flutter by expressing deep anguish that late YSR’s picture was missing in the flexi boards and banners hung in the Prakasam Hall the programme to coincide with the oath taking ceremony of new APYC chief Ch. Vamsi Chand Reddy and eight others.
Leaders were taken aback and looked in stunned silence as Dr. Rao in choked voice recalled how Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy dreamt of making Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister. He said: “It pains me to find the banners ignoring Dr YSR.”
Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy and more than half-a-dozen Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and party leaders were mute witness as the Youth Congress workers raised full throated slogans hailing the leadership of Dr. YSR.
Adding to the discomfiture of the Chief Minister and others on the dais was the remark made by outgoing APYC chief T. J. R. Sudhakar Babu that the 10-member Ministerial Committee’s recommendation to disown YSR legacy and devise own programmes was a wrong decision.
He said the Congress cadres were loyal to the party but the Ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy Government were all set to jump the bandwagon of the YSR Congress in 2014 elections. He dared the Chief Minister to name such Ministers fed in his cellular phone. Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy called up on the Youth Congress leaders to work hard and create their own image. “When you gain hold over the affairs, opportunities will coming knocking. Your contribution alone will force the party to offer you ticket. You have to wait for the opportunities. He wanted the YC leaders to extensively tour the districts and publicise the Government programmes.
