YSR Congress party leader and former Andhra Pradesh Minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy was found dead at his home here under suspicious circumstances. He was 68.
Vivekananda Reddy, also a former Lok Sabha member, was suspected to have suffered cardiac arrest at his residence in Pulivendula town.
However, on a complaint by his personal assistant Krishna Reddy, the police registered a case of unnatural death under Section 174 of Code of Criminal Procedure and took up investigations.
Vivekananda Reddy was the younger brother of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of YSR Congress party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
He is survived by his wife and a daughter.
The former MP, who was alone at his house, was found in a pool of blood in the bathroom. The personal assistant said he had suffered head injuries.
The body was shifted for autopsy to a government hospital.
Leaders of YSR Congress expressed doubts over the cause of death and demanded a thorough probe. They said he was fine till Thursday and had participated in the election campaigning.
MP Vijay Sai Reddy said the party was demanding an impartial probe to find out if it was a natural death or accidental death or there was some other cause.
Vivekananda Reddy was elected from the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency on Congress ticket in 1999 and 2004. He was twice elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly (1989, 1994) from Pulivendula, a family stronghold.
He was also elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council in 2009 and served as Agriculture Minister in Kiran Kumar Reddy’s cabinet.
He remained loyal to Congress when Jaganmohan Reddy raised a banner of revolt against the party for not picking him as the successor of his father and Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy following his death in a helicopter crash in 2009.
Jagan Reddy had alleged that Congress tried to engineer split in the family by making Vivekananda Reddy a Minister. The young leader subsequently floated YSR Congress party.
Vivekananda Reddy contested 2011 by-election from Pulivendula constituency against his sister-in-law and Jagan’s mother Y.S. Vijayamma, who contested as YSR Congress candidate and won with a huge majority.
He later quit the Congress and joined YSR Congress. He lost elections to the Legislative Council in 2017.
