| New Delhi 03 September 2009 |
After a nearly 24-hour search that involved sophisticated aircraft, satellites, commandos and tribal villagers carrying spears, the wreckage of a helicopter carrying an influential Indian politician has been found on the slope of a jungle hill. The death of the well-respected Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy is a blow for India's governing Congress Party.
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| Chief Minister of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (2004 File) |
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the party's boss, Sonia Gandhi, are to travel to the state for the funeral of the important power-broker.
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram says two other passengers and two pilots also died in the crash.
"We are in deep mourning. We have a deep sense of grief, shock and loss at the passing away of the chief minister and a tall leader," said Chidambaram.
In front of the Reddy residence in Hyderabad, hundreds of distraught supporters gathered in tearful prayer. The 60-year-old political figure, with socialist leanings, was lauded for his programs that benefited the poor - including free electrical power for rural farmers, education programs and supplying bottled mineral water to villages.
Reddy - a devout Christian in a Hindu-majority country - turned from medicine to politics in his home state and became one of the most influential leaders in the Congress Party. In his state, he was noted for traveling to the most remote regions of Andhra Pradesh to understand the living conditions of his poorest constituents.
The chief minister's body was found by the Indian Air Force (early Thursday) at the site where his helicopter crashed, the previous day. Army commandos dropped from a helicopter examined the mangled and burnt wreckage on the slope of a heavily-forested hill, in an area infested with Maoist rebels.
The Bell 430 helicopter disappeared while flying through a heavy rain storm, en route to an unannounced inspection of a local district.
Just before lifting off from Hyderabad, the chief minister spoke to reporters.
Reddy said he wanted to make surprise inspections to check the effectiveness of such policies as drought alleviation and unemployment.
U.S. Ambassador Timothy Roemer, issued a statement, offering his condolences, hailing the chief minister "as a strong supporter of U.S.-India friendship."
Opposition parties had accused his family of amassing wealth illegally, but that did not prevent voters from returning him to power this year. The chief minister was considered the major force in delivering his state to the Congress Party, in the last two national elections. He had never had an election defeat.
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