Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

A federal probe of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was also launched to investigate disproportionate assets acquired by his son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, in return for favours his father made to the industrialists. In May 2012, the CBI arrested Mopidevi Venkataramana, the then Infrastructure Minister in Reddy's cabinet, who was responsible for unduly assigning the land to a private organisation called VANPIC. This incident called the credibility of Reddy's entire cabinet into question.

Elections for the seats left vacant due to the resignations of Jagan and Y. S. Vijayamma (Reddy's wife) were held on 8 May 2011. Contesting on behalf of the newly formed YSR Congress Party, Jagan and Vijayamma both won easily.

Six months after his death, Reddy's son, Jagan, began a condolence tour (Odarpu Yatra) to meet the families of those who either allegedly committed suicide or died of shock after hearing the death of his father. The Congress party's central leadership directed Jagan to call off the Odarpu Yatra, but he refused. The tour was successful and established Jagan as a major political force in state politics. He resigned from the Congress party on 29 November 2010 and announced on 7 December 2010 from Pulivendula that he would be starting a new party within 45 days. On 16 February the YSR Congress Party came into existence with Jagan as its president.

On 2 September 2009, a helicopter carrying Reddy went missing in the Nallamala Forest area. The next morning media reported that the helicopter wreckage had been found on top of Rudrakonda Hill, 40 km (25 mi) from Kurnool. The five people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Over a hundred people were reported to have committed suicide on hearing the news of his death.

Reddy entered active politics in 1978 and won the Pulivendula constituency same year and became Minister of State for Rural Development (1980–82), and later shifted to Excise Minister (1982) and Education Minister (1982–83). He continued to retain the same constituency in 1983 and 1985, even when Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao swept to power and the party fared badly in the latter, which saw Indira Gandhi making him State president of the party. He even continued the winning streak for Kadapa constituency for four terms in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Lok Sabha. His return to state politics saw him winning 1999 Assembly elections from same Pulivendula constituency during which he served as Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh State Assembly (1999–2004), but his subsequent winning in 2004 Assembly elections saw him sworn in as 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh serving full-term. He won 2009 Assembly elections and continued his tenure as 15th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, which was abruptly cut short by his death on 2 September 2009.

Reddy's major campaign slogan for the 2009 election was "Development and Credibility". He sought a mandate based on past performance, making no new election promises but vowing to continue and extend ongoing schemes. The opposition parties formed a 'Grand Alliance' (mahakootami) made up of all the major opposition parties including, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the communist parties. The TDP promised numerous inducements including free color televisions and a unique cash transfer scheme (CTS). There was also a new party, Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), floated by a popular film star Chiranjeevi.

Reddy was sworn in as the Chief Minister for the term of 2009–2014 on 20 May 2009. The ceremony was held in Hyderabad's Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium and was attended by a crowd of about 20,000 people.

Reddy's Bell 430 helicopter went missing on Wednesday, 2 September 2009 at 9:35 am. Begumpet and Shamshabad air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at 10:02 am while it was passing through the dense Nallamala forest area. The Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, P. Ramakanth Reddy, said that inclement weather had forced the helicopter off course. Although the sparsely populated forest area is considered to be a stronghold of the outlawed Naxal communist insurgents, the National Security Advisor of India ruled out the possibility of the Naxals bringing down the helicopter.

The surrender of more than 650 hectares (1,600 acres) of personal land by Reddy to the government to be compliant with the law in December 2006 was criticised by opposition parties. The opposition parties demanded his resignation for owning the land in violation of the law. N. Chandrababu Naidu also called for Reddy's resignation after a 2007 Khammam police shooting resulted in eight deaths. Despite criticism, he won general and assembly elections and sworn in as Chief Minister again in 2009.

Reddy was elected to the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Lok Sabha from the Kadapa constituency for four terms and to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for five terms from the Pulivendula constituency. He won every election he contested. In 2003 he undertook a three-month-long padayatra, or walking tour, of 1,475 kilometres (917 mi) during the very hot summer months, across several districts in Andhra Pradesh as a part of his election campaign. He led his party to victory in the following general and assembly elections held in 2004, and did the same in 2009.

The Congress Party under the leadership of Reddy won the contest and came to power for a second time, winning 156 seats in the assembly (148 would be a simple majority). Reddy's party also won 33 seats in parliament out of a total of 42 seats. This feat was seen as a significant victory for Reddy, since he was able to earn a second consecutive term against the odds of anti-incumbency. He became the Congress party's first incumbent chief minister since 1969 to win based on his performance.

Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (8 July 1949 – 2 September 2009), popularly known as YSR, was the 14th chief minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, serving from 2004 to 2009.

Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy was born on 8 July 1949 into a Christian Reddy middle class family as eldest of five sons at Pulivendula. Rajasekhara Reddy completed his medical studies in Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College, Gulbarga, Karnataka and served as medical officer at CSI-Campbell Mission Hospital, Jammalamadugu, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh after completing his studies. In 1973, he established a 70-bed charitable hospital before entering politics. His father Raja Reddy was killed in a bomb attack on 23 May 1998.