YSR book torn between Cong-Jagan tussle

HYDERABAD: Photographer Ravinder Reddy may have thought that he timed his book on YS Rajasekhara Reddy to perfection when he unfurled it in New Delhi last week, just ahead of the late leader's second death anniversary.

As a visual tribute, the book stood to be welcomed both by the former chief minister's family as well as the current state government, which was brought back to power on the strength of his policies. But much water has flown down the Krishna since the day of YSR's passing on September 2, 2009.

The Congress and his family are now bitterly estranged. While the party and its government have made the right noises about the book, the YSR family's circle of supporters see an irony in that response: they say it's odd that the government of Kiran Kumar Reddy is praising the legacy of YSR while standing by as a spectator when the CBI named the former chief minister in its case against his son, Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The book, YSR: Man of the People, is a lavishly produced coffee-tabler containing luminous BW photographs showcasing various aspects of its subject's personality. It is a warm tribute to the man, and contains some little-seen images supplied by his family such as a playful ritual with his wife Vijayalakshmi during his shashtipurthi, 60th birthday celebration.

Ravinder Reddy collected nearly 10,000 photographs from his own collection and from various other sources including YSR family albums, personal collections of the leader's associates and the archives of several photojournalists.

He whittled it down to about 350 images, reflecting various facets of the subject's personality, from which the legendary Raghu Rai, the author's mentor, selected 140 of the best.

Ravinder Reddy, who has previously brought out coffee-table books on Telugu culture and Hyderabad, was one of the few photographers to document from close quarters the razing of the Babri Masjid in 1992.

Reddy says he received considerable cooperation from the YSR family including Jagan Mohan Reddy and the late chief minister's close friend K V P Ramachandra Rao in bringing out the book. They gave him some photographs of YSR that only the family was privy to.

Further, he was given access to the archive of Jagan Mohan Reddy's newpaper Sakshi. 'Had the family not cooperated with me, I would never have laid my hands on these photographs,' says he.

Rajya Sabha MP K V P Ramachandra Rao was Ravinder Reddy's conduit to the YSR family. In fact it was he who introduced the photographer to YSR when the former was covering the election campaign of 1999.

The photographer says the project was entirely self-funded, with no financial help from the family or KVP Ramachandra Rao. Ravinder Reddy says he dearly wished to see YSR family members attend the release of the book in New Delhi last week, but the parting of ways between Jagan Mohan Reddy and the Congress came in the way.

The book was ready some months ago but the release was delayed due to the unexpected turn of the political events in the state. Since the release of the book, YSR family sources said the state government's functionaries were eager to associate with the book in an effort to keep the YSR legacy while doing much to dishonour it.