India, Sept. 2 -- Seventeen years after the untimely death of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, his political legacy continues to be defined not merely by welfare schemes but by a larger idea of governance: that social justice must translate into tangible economic security, opportunity and dignity

It has been seventeen years since we lost YS Rajasekhara Reddy in a fatal helicopter crash. His untimely demise drastically altered the destiny of Andhra Pradesh. A charismatic statesman, his footprint is the largest in the social sector, and every family claimed him as their own.

During his gruelling padayatra, he comprehended the needs of the common person. Farmers, women, youth, Backward Classes, the socially disempowered, and the economically vulnerab...