AMARAVATI (ANDHRA PRADESH): YS Vivekananda Reddy, former MP and younger brother of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was discovered dead today at his home in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, with relatives claiming that the death was not natural. Vivekananda Reddy's personal assistant M V Krishna Reddy has lodged a protest with Pulivendula police expressing doubts over the nature of death as blood clots were found in the room and the washroom. The 68-year old leader was living with his wife and a daughter. Vivekananda Reddy's nephew and former lawmaker Y S Avinash Reddy said that it was not a natural death and sought a police investigation.
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"There were two injuries on his head, one on the front and other on the back. So, a thorough probe is required to establish the cause of death. There could possibly be a conspiracy angle as well that needs to be probed," Avinash Reddy said in Pulivendula. A case under unnatural death was filled and the body moved to the Pulivendula government hospital for postmortem, a local police inspector said.
After hearing the news, YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother Vijayamma rushed to Pulivendula from Hyderabad. Recently, he was seen at the Lotus Pond residence of Jagan in Hyderabad and on Thursday, Viveka, as he was known by, campaigned for the YSRC in Pulivendula constituency. He was alone at his residence in Pulivendula on Thursday night.
"There was no response when I went to his house this morning. I called his wife in Hyderabad over the phone and she asked me not to disturb him. Afterward, the cook and other household staff reached the house but they too did not get any response. I then went in through a side door and found Vivekananda's body in the washroom, with blood clots in the bedroom and the washroom," Krishna Reddy said. YSRC leader V Vijayasai Reddy expressed shock over the former minister's death. "He was such a kind person who always occupied himself in public service. It is a big loss to the YSRC and also the state," the leader said in a message.
Known as a down-to-earth and friendly person, Vivekananda was elected as a lawmaker in 1989 and 1994 from his hometown Pulivendula in Kadapa district. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Kadapa constituency in 1999 and 2004 and to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council in 2009. He also served as the agriculture minister under N Kiran Kumar Reddy in the then united Andhra Pradesh.
He had a difference in opinions with his nephew, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, after the latter leave the Congress and established the YSR Congress, and chose to stay back in the party. Vivekananda even lost the election to his sister-in-law, Vijayamma, in 2011. The family issues were sorted out and Vivekananda Reddy joined the YSRC.