The man from Kadapa is at the highest point of his more than three-decade-long career, which started with his election to the state assembly in 1978 from the family fiefdom of Pulivendula on the Reddy Congress ticket. But soon he defected to Indira Congress and became a minister in the very first tenure.

Born on July 8, 1949 to YS Raja Reddy at Pulivendula in Cuddpah district, YSR completed his medical studies at the M R Medical College, Gulbarga, in 1976 and served as house surgeon at Medical College, Tirupati -- a profession he had to discontinue after becoming an active politician.

The big moment for him came after the Congress was decimated in the NTR wave in 1983 and lost power for the first time in the state. Indira Gandhi handpicked him to lead the Congress party in the state and restore the morale of the party.

However, the hot-tempered leader from Rayala Seema seldom enjoyed good relation with any senior leader and was labelled as perennial dissident, as almost every Congress chief minister became the target of his dissident activity.