Political Diary

A man who said politicians should retire at 60 seemed to have kept his word, in death. It was a stroke of irony that YSR was fated to die just 100 days after he rode to power for a second time in Andhra Pradesh. He used to advocate that a politician's shelf life should end at 60. For, YSR had entered politics at a relatively young age of 30 and became a minister in the state cabinet. He missed several opportunities to become CM of Andhra Pradesh and that might have prompted him to moot the retirement at 60'' plan for Congress veterans. In fact, the partymen also backed his retirement formula as the high command used to "impose'' aging leaders in state politics. "They wanted all the veteran leaders who clung to power to retire and allow their leader (YSR) to take over the reins,'' an analyst said. It didn't happen until 2004 polls when the party high command had no option but to name him as CM, in recognition of his 1,400-km-long padayatra in the mid-summer of 2003. With the veterans taking a backseat, YSR emerged as the sole leader of the party in the state at 55. He reached the self-imposed retirement age of 60 just after taking over the reins for the second time on May 20, 2009. "Yes, I wanted to retire from active politics at 60. But, it seems my followers are thinking otherwise,'' YSR had said. Unfortunately, it appears God has granted him a "forcible retirement'' at 60. He was 60 years and two months at the time of his untimely death.