Death of Rosaiah ends an era in politics

Konijeti Rosaiah, a non-controversial leader in the Congress party died on Saturday morning following health issues. He retired from politics in 2016 after a long six decades of his political journey. After his tenure as Tamil Nadu governor, Rosaiah said that he was not interested in returning to politics and wanted to live peacefully at his home in Hyderabad.

Rosaiah who had a deep association with Congress party worked with all the Congress chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh. Although he held various portfolios, he is most popular as the finance minister. He presented the state budget 16 times, including 7 times in a row, a record in the country. Before entering politics, he was a close follower of late parliamentarian and farmer leader Prof NG Ranga.

Rosaiah who served as finance minister during former CM Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy's regime faced a challenge after the helicopter of Rajasekhar Reddy went missing in less than an hour after taking off from Begumpet airport on September 2, 2009. He carefully handled the situation when all the MLAs, ministers and other officials rushed to the secretariat on learning the missing of helicopter.

Rosaiah's association with YS Rajasekhar Reddy:

Rosaiah was the first person to reach the secretariat and monitored all the calls by coordinating with the officials in search of the CM. On September 3, 2009, he announced that the helicopter was found near Pavuralgutta and later took charge as the interim Chief Minister.

In a press conference in 2019, Rosaiah said that he had connections with YS Rajasekhar Reddy before entering politics. Rosaiah said that he met Reddy for the fist time during his visit to Kadapa and the neighbouring regions and the same friendship was continued until Rajasekhar's last breath. "He was a good friend and never hesitated to share his problems," he said.