Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s tragic end underscores the high-risk lives our politicians live. Beyond the uncertainties of a political career, with its inevitable highs and lows, there is the internalising of the belief that risks go with the turf. Only too often, this is reflected in impetuous acts that often border on the foolhardy.
For today’s neta, the helicopter—and in many cases small planes—is no longer a status symbol: it’s as essential as a Blackberry. In YSR’s case, he had reportedly clocked over 100 flying hours in the last four months ‘bonding’ with the people.
Everyone knows, of course, that a ride on a helicopter is riskier than one on a fixed wing aircraft. But a chopper ride with a politician can be fraught with even greater hazards as this correspondent discovered first while flying with RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav, when he was chief minister of Bihar. On one election trip, the pilot couldn’t find the rally site because of the...
The Man From Kadappa 
The Belt Tightens 
