Congress goes through the motions for YSR

HYDERABAD: Memorial events to mark the second death anniversary of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy turned into a political point-making exercise between the Congress party on the one hand and Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress party on the other.Incensed by PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana’s attempt on Thursday to discount YSR’s role in the Congress victory in the 2009 election party, Jagan Mohan Reddy supporters tried to disrupt an anniversary event in Vijayawada, raising slogans against him.At the YSR family estate of Idupulapaya, the anniversary day began with Jagan Mohan Reddy paying tributes to his father at YSR’s samadhi, accompanied by his mother Vijayalakshmi, wife Bharati, sister Sharmila and bother-in-law Anil Kumar.They spent about 30 minutes at the samadhi and an hour in church for a memorial service.A 30,000 strong crowd collected at Iduplapaya.At YSR Smriti Vanam at Nallakaluva in Kurnool district -- nearest to the site of the copter crash at Pavuralagutta which killed the then chief minister two years ago -- the state government organised a function but no one except the Kurnool district in-charge minister Satrucharla Vijayarama Raju and minister Erasu Pratap Reddy bothered to turn up.Though the programme was organised by the state government, no one appeared to have cared much for it.In the state capital too, Congress leaders observed the anniversary in a perfunctory manner.Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy paid his tributes at the YSR statue at Punjagutta and later at the Congress Legislature Party office as well.At Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress headquarters, the ceremony was not much different.PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana was there to say words of praise for YSR in which the stress on the late leader’s loyalty to the Congress party:  “YSR was very loyal to the party and its leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and had a special place among several chief ministers who had served the state.” Having said that, he rushed off to Vijayawada for his tour of the coastal districts.