State funeral for YSR to begin shortly in Idupulapaya

There was an outpouring of grief across Andhra Pradesh on Friday with much of the state shutting down to mourn the late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, whose funeral cortege snaked its way through surging crowds from his home here to the stadium where national leaders and people lined up to pay homage.

The body was then flown on Friday afternoon to Pulivendula, his native town in Kadapa district, for burial. The body was flown in an army helicopter from Begumpet airport here after thousands of people paid their last respects at the L S Stadium in Hyderbad.

YSR, who died in a chopper crash Wednesday, will be laid to rest at the family estate Edupulapaya in Pulivendula town by the side of his parents.

Earlier, several people were injured in a stampede at the Lal Bahadur Stadium, forcing authorities to move the body of the late Andhra Pradesh CM an hour before schedule.

Police failed to control the surging mourners, who broke barricades at several points to rush towards the body kept on a pedestal in the middle of the ground.

Several people were injured, some of them seriously, as police used force to control the crowds. As the situation was going out of control, the late leader’s son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy had a word with military and police officers to shift the body to Begumpet airport, from where it would be flown to his native Pulivendula town for the funeral.

Though the body was scheduled to be kept at the stadium till 2 pm to enable people to pay their last respects, the situation forced the authorities to move it out at 1 pm.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi were among the many leaders who flew in from New Delhi to condole the death of the chief minister, whose body was found in the forests of Nallamala on Thursday, a day after his helicopter had crashed.

That YSR, as the chief minister was popularly known, was one of the Congress’ most powerful leaders was underscored by reports that 67 people had died in the state - either out of shock or by committing suicide - after hearing about the death.

Accompanied by several central ministers, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi laid wreaths on the body placed in his residence and camp office in Begumpet. They met the late leader’s wife Vijayalakshmi, son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who issued an appeal asking people not to commit suicide, and daughter Sharmila.

From the camp office, the body of YSR was taken to the Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan to enable party leaders to pay respect and from there to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, six kilometres away, where he had been sworn in for a second term in office only four months ago.

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had taken oath as chief minister for a second term on May 20 in this stadium where his body was now brought to enable people to pay their last respects.

Standing in an open top jeep and accompanied by his wife, son and other family members, the 60-year-old had entered the stadium four months ago waving to thousands of his supporters when he took oath.

Though the gathering was huge on Friday too, this time they came to bid a tearful farewell to him. All the way to the stadium were teeming mourners, lined up along the road, on rooftops and packed into the stadium to bid adieu to the man, who had steered the Congress to victory for a second term and died a sudden, tragic death they were still coming to terms with.

Thousands of others accompanied the funeral procession as it slowly made its way to the stadium where leaders from across the political spectrum, including Bharatiya Janata Party’s L K Advani, paid tribute.

Hundreds of vehicles followed the flower-bedecked truck in which the body, draped in the national flag, was kept.

Standing by the side of his father’s body was his MP son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who was appealing to people to allow the vehicle to move. Holding national flags, some ran towards the truck to have a closer look at the casket and console YSR’s son.

In the rest of state, a silence fell with normal life coming to a crippling halt. Schools, colleges, offices, shops and businesses closed as a mark of respect to the leader, whose last rites will be performed in his native town Pulivendula in Kadapa district later on Friday.

The usual morning bustle was missing as the government declared a two-day holiday — Thursday and Friday. The state government has declared a seven-day mourning period. Cable TV operators took all entertainment channels off air.

Guntur, Ongole, Kurnool, Nizamabad, Nellore, Warangal… the situation was similar everywhere.

As the people and his family prepared for the funeral at Pulivendula, where YSR’s body will be taken by air, the Congress began to grapple with who would fill the void.

Though finance minister K. Rosaiah has been acting chief minister, YSR’s loyalists want his 36-year-old son to be made chief minister. Nearly half the 34-member cabinet backs the demand, saying this would be best tribute to YSR.

YSR’s iron-like grip over the party ensured that he completed five years without any dissension. Within hours of his death, however, infighting had broken out over who would inherit his legacy.

The world of realpolitik had intervened, even before he could be interred.