YSR's tryst with rains

Hyderabad/Vijayawada: Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has always believed Lord Varuna, the rain god, would bail him out in times of crisis. But now, after showering his reign with five years of bountiful rains, the rains have put the life of YSR in peril.

In the last one month, YSR seemed hassled by the lack of rains but was ecstatic when the heavens opened up in the last 10 days. Indeed he had reason to believe so, with the state receiving rains all through the five years - 2004 to 2009 in his first term. Analysts surmise that rains had helped YSR to complete his first term without much trouble, unlike his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu.

“In fact, grassroots Congress workers started claiming that Lord Varuna has become a member of the Congress party because of which heavens keep opening up whenever YSR prays for rains to keep the state people happy,” an analyst said. After all, the drought that parched the state during Naidu’s regime ended just on the day of YSR’s swearing-in ceremony in 2004 in Hyderabad. Reservoirs and dams in the state brimmed with waters during his first five years in office. But YSR’s honeymoon with the rains nearly ended when the monsoon played truant from June till mid-August. So when the delayed monsoons led to drought-like conditions, and the state state government delayed the declaration of drought citing ‘other’ reasons, the Opposition said that it was all due to only YSR’s ego. But YSR’s hopes held ground and it began raining heavily all over the state in the last week of August.

In fact, YSR’s Rachchabanda (mass contact) programme was aimed at taking a first-hand account of the implementation of his welfare programmes and how the ryots are getting benefited from the recent rains. Ironically the man may have fallen prey to the rains when his chopper went missing..