Nedurumalli passes away

Hyderabad: Former Chief Minister Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy (80) died here on Friday. He was suffering from neurological and liver related ailments and was admitted to the NIMS hospital on April 26. The end came at 5 am. Reddy is survived by wife Rajyalakshmi and four sons. Rajyalakshmi was also a minister in YSR’s cabinet. The last rites will take place at his native village Vakadu in Nellore district on Saturday.

Several prominent leaders from all parties visited his residence at Somajiguda and paid respects to the departed leader. Among them were N Raghuveera Reddy, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, K Chiranjeevi, M M Pallam Raju, D Srinivas, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, K Narayana and G Muddukrishnama Naidu. Several senior leaders including TDP chief N Chandrababau Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, M Venkaiah Naidu and others condoled his death.

Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah said that the State had lost a "bold" and a "dynamic leader". President Pranab Mukherjee said in a message that, "A distinguished Parliamentarian and senior Congress leader, Reddy served the nation in various capacities and made significant contribution towards the cause of the welfare and upliftment of the underprivileged.” Lok Satta Party national President described the former CM as a man of abundant common sense and affable nature.

The body was shifted to Indira Bhavan, the office of the APCC, at Nampally in the evening to enable party workers and leaders to pay homage to him before taking it to Vakadu. Janardhan Reddy was born on February 20, 1935, in Nellore district. A teacher by profession, he forayed into politics and remained a loyal Congressman for over four decades. He became the 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1990, succeeding Dr M Chenna Reddy following his failure to control communal violence in Hyderabad.

During his tenure as the Chief Minister, Reddy gave permission to many medical and engineering colleges in private sector which were allowed to collect capitation fees and admit students for half of the seats available in each college. This became a highly controversial decision and was struck down by a three-judge bench of the High Court, which finally led to his quitting as the CM.

According to senior Congress leaders, Reddy should serve as an example for turncoats. For him, the party was important not people. He had been with the Congress party for over four decades. He was a sitting Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh. Enjoying the confidence and support of P V Narasimha Rao since 1970, Reddy first became a Rayja Sabha member (1972-78). He was later elected as a MLC (1978 - 84) and served as a minister in the State. He became the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president during the period 1988 – 89. Reddy was a one term MLA 1989 - 1994 during which he was a minister and the Chief Minister. He was elected to the Lok Sabha thrice in 1998, 1999 and 2004 from Bapatla, Narsaraopet and Visakhapatnam respectively. In September 2007, Reddy and his wife escaped an assassination attempt by the Naxalites.