Hyderabad: AP Chief Minister-designate Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit to Pragathi Bhavan to meet Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was special for more than one reason.
It was the first time in about a decade that he was stepping inside the premises of what was once the home of his father, the late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. He said he had mixed memories of the place.
Accompanied by his wife Bharathi and party leaders, Mr Reddy called on Mr Rao to invite him for his swearing in ceremony at Vijayawada on May 30. The meeting lasted for about an hour during which the two families exchanged mementoes.
A close aide of Mr Reddy, who was with the CM-designate, told Deccan Chronicle, “The topic of late YSR did surface. Mr Rao reminded Jagan that it was his father who had built the camp office. Jagan replied, “Yes, I lived there and I have mixed memories.”
An IAS officer who accompanied Mr Reddy on Saturday recalled the days when he was deputed to the 9,000-sq ft camp office that Rajasekhar Reddy had built.
“The family moved from Lakeview Guesthouse to Greenlands in 2005, a year after YSR was sworn in as Chief Minister for the first time. Jagan and his family lived in Bengaluru. Jagan had not entered politics and he was running his business in Karnataka,” the officer recalled.
“Quite often the family visited his parents at the camp office. The visits increased after Jagan was elected MP from Kadapa, though he did not stay there. The family has fond memories of the house,” he said.
It was to the same place that body of YSR was brought after he died in a helicopter crash on September 2, 2009 before it was taken to the family estate at Idupulapaya.
After that, YSR’s wife Ms Vijayalakshmi stayed at the house for about a month before moving out in October 2009.
Mr Reddy returned to the home for the first time on Saturday.
