YSR’s body recovered, brought to Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: All of 24 hours after the helicopter in which he was travelling went missing, the body of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was recovered from its wreckage on Thursday morning. Within six hours, Finance Minister Konijeti Rosaiah (77) was sworn in Chief Minister at a hurriedly organised and low-key ceremony, by Governor N.D. Tiwari at the Raj Bhavan.

Union Law Minister and AICC general secretary M. Veerappa Moily made clear that it was an “interim arrangement” and that Mr. Rosaiah was chosen because he was the “seniormost leader.” This, he emphasised, was only to discharge the painful task of fulfilling a constitutional responsibility.

The Congress Legislature Party would meet soon after the funeral ceremonies of Rajasekhara Reddy and elect a new leader. He parried a question as to who the next leader would be and said: “This is not the time to discuss such issues.”
In a significant development, a lobby comprising several Ministers, MPs and MLAs made a strong pitch to make 36-year-old Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, MP and son of the dead leader, Chief Minister. This demand found a powerful echo even at the Cabinet meeting convened by Mr. Rosaiah immediately after he was sworn in.
Earlier, all hopes of Rajasekhara Reddy having miraculously escaped were snuffed out in less than two hours of the resumption of the search-and-rescue operations at daybreak. The operation involved a multi-disciplinary team of the Indian Air Force, Greyhounds, the anti-naxalite force of Andhra Pradesh and others.
Based on aerial images, IAF choppers zeroed in on the crash site around 8 a.m. Evidence suggested that the Bell-430, laden with fuel for its long haul from Hyderabad to Chittoor, had crashed into a hillside between Atmakur and Rollapenta villages in Kurnool district and exploded.
As other choppers joined the operations, commandos slid down to the crash site. The wreckage was strewn over a wide area.
A 20-member team carrying stretchers, power saws and rope ladders reached the site and helped winch the bodies up the IAF helicopters hovering above. This brought to an end one of the largest land-and-air search operations launched in the country’s history.
The mangled remains of Rajasekhara Reddy and the four others in the helicopter were flown to Kurnool, about 70 km away. Post-mortem was immediately conducted. Those who died along with Dr. Reddy were his Special Secretary P. Subramanyam, IAS; Chief Security Officer A.S.C. Wesley; and the pilots, Group Captain S.K. Bhatia and Captain M.S. Reddy. All the bodies were airlifted to Hyderabad.

K. Rosaiah sworn in Chief Minister on Thursday.

Rajasekhara Reddy’s mortal remains were taken in a cortege to his residence at Begumpet where a steady stream of leaders, including Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu, paid floral tributes amid heart-rending scenes.
The body will be shifted to the Lal Bahadur stadium on Friday morning to enable people to pay their last respects, before being flown to Idupalapaya near Pulivendula in Kadapa for the funeral.
Mr. Rosaiah said it was with a heavy heart and in sad circumstances that he was taking over as Chief Minister. He knew the responsibility given to him exceeded his capacity but he had to accept it till the party chooses a capable leader.
Mr. Moily said the death of Rajasekhar Reddy, “a great son of Andhra,” was an irreparable loss not only to the State but also the Congress.....