After a nearly 24-hour search that involved sophisticated aircraft,satellites, commandos and even spear-toting tribal villagers, thewreckage of a helicopter carrying an influential Indian politician wasspotted on the slope of a jungle hill. The death of the well-respectedAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy is a blow for India'sgoverning Congress Party.
National flags across Indiawill be flown at half-staff Friday to mourn the death of the chiefminister of the key southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Thefuneral of Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy will be attended by Congress Partyboss, Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Standing besideeach other in New Delhi the two called the chief minister anoutstanding leader for the 75 million people of his state, as well asthe nation.
"For us it is a huge loss. It is a loss for theparty. It is a loss for all of us, his colleagues, for the state ofAndhra Pradesh and for the country," said Gandhi.
"He devised alarge number of programs for the benefit of farmers, for the benefit ofdowntrodden people, for health care, for self-help groups of women,"said Singh.
Those programs include free electrical power for farms and supplying bottled mineral water to villages.
Hundreds of distraught supporters prayed and wept in front of his residence in Hyderabad when confirmation came of his death.
Reddy- a devout Christian in a Hindu-majority country - turned from medicineto politics in his home state and became one of the most influentialleaders in the Congress Party. In his state, he was noted fortraveling to the most remote regions of Andhra Pradesh to understandthe living conditions of his poorest constituents.
The chiefminister's body was found by the Indian Air Force at the site where hishelicopter crashed Wednesday. Army commandos dropped from a helicopterexamined the mangled and burnt wreckage on the slope of aheavily-forested hill, in an area infested with Maoist rebels.
TheBell 430 helicopter disappeared while flying through a heavy rainstorm, en route to an unannounced inspection of a local district.
Just before lifting off from Hyderabad, the chief minister spoke to reporters.
Reddysaid he wanted to make surprise inspections to check the effectivenessof such policies as drought alleviation and unemployment.
U.S.Ambassador Timothy Roemer, issued a statement offering his condolencesand hailing the chief minister "as a strong supporter of U.S.-Indiafriendship."
Opposition parties had accused his family ofamassing wealth illegally, but that did not prevent voters fromreturning him to power this year. The chief minister was consideredthe major force in delivering his state to the Congress Party, in thelast two national elections. He had never had an election defeat.