Kakinada, Sep 4th: The tragic death of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash plunged the state into grief. Congress party leaders and cadres could not digest the shocking news that started emerging shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday. District Congress Committee (DCC) president Ch. Venugopala Krishna and all Congress MLAs mourned their leader’s death. They lamented that their prayers for the safe return of Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy were not answered by the Almighty. Congress party cadres garlanded Mr. Reddy’s portraits at important junctions and paid him floral tributes.

JNTU-Kakinada Vice-Chancellor Allam Appa Rao, Registrar V. Ravindra and others paid floral tributes to Mr. Reddy and hailed his contribution to the development of the higher education sector. JNTU-Kakinada owed its existence to Mr. Reddy. He was the one who initiated the division of the combined JNTU into JNTU-Hyderabad, JNTU-Anantpur and JNTU-Kakinada. The managements of Chaitanya Institute of Science and Technology (CIST) and Ideal College of Arts and Sciences expressed deep condolences on the death of Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy. The faculties and students recalled the achievements of Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy and described his death as a grave loss for the family and people of Andhra Pradesh.