The demise of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy has been confirmed and it has sent waves of shock and grief all across the state and Telugu people around the world. The very fact that this could have been avoided, is sad. The Meteorological department said that it had clearly informed the staff about bad weather before the copter took off.  Also, the CM apparently had to fly in a different copter(an old Bell 430) as against the  more advanced Augusta Westland 130 as it was due for inspection. Had the CM waited an hour and a half for the new copter, there was every chance he could have survived. The people of Andhra Pradesh had pinned up their hopes when the search teams confirmed the lack of any distress signal from the copter. This distress signal indicates a crash or an emergency landing. But, in an unfortunate turn of events, the copter was found in a mangled state and at around 9.50 am, the search team knew what had happened. It is still unsure as to the reasons leading to the crash and it is of utmost importance to let the citizens know the causes behind such an accident. The Nallamala forests, according to an article on Deccan Chronicle (3rd Sep), was once a Naxal area but had been mostly flushed of the Maoists, and that those now living there had no power to execute a gunning down operation. Plenty of questions will arise and it is upto the government under the new CM to provide answers to the same. The big question here is who would succeed a leader like YSR. The CM had just begun his second term at office and had been earnestly deploying new programmes for the people of AP. Whether his successor chooses to continue on this path, is a question.  Rosiah seems to be a likely choice, given that he has always lead important roles in the ministry and because he has often been seen interacting with public on several instances. He has been appointed by the interim-CM as of now, but there will surely be a debate as to who to elect for the CM's post here-after. Congress must ensure to tread a careful path here, lest they fall prey to factionism among its own leaders. Such a situation would lead to a failed government and eventually lead to re-elections.  This will only lead to a huge waste of public money and we can only hope that the opposition leaders maintain calm and support the government in this situation and help us smoothly transition to a rule under a new CM.