Hyderabad: Vice Pres pays last respect to Jaipal Reddy

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday paid last respects to senior Congress leader and former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy at latter's residence in Hyderabad on Sunday.

"Vice President pays his last respects to former Union Minister, Shri S Jaipal Reddy, who passed away, in Hyderabad on July 28, 2019," Press Information Bureau tweeted.

Naidu placed a wreath on the body of the departed Congress leader and offered condolences to his wife and other family members.

Later in his remarks to the media, the Vice President recollected his long and close association with Reddy dating back to the days when they were together in the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

Describing him as a towering intellectual and an excellent speaker in both English and Telugu, Naidu said: "Reddy was an upright person and a man of integrity who dedicated his life in the service of common people. He was known for cherishing and upholding democratic values."

The Vice President said that Shri Jaipal Reddy made significant contributions in both Parliament and the State Assembly through debates and discussions. "He brought name and fame to whichever position he held without compromising on fundamentals and his beliefs," he added.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Hyderabad MP and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi also paid obeisance to Reddy, who passed away following prolonged ailing on Sunday at 1:30 am in Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad.

The Congress veteran is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Born in 1942, Reddy's journey into the political discourse started when he was elected as the president of the Andhra Pradesh Youth Congress.He went on to become a Congress legislator for four consecutive terms in the 1970s and held key portfolios in various governments, thereafter.In 1979, he joined Janata Dal and returned to the Congress party after 20 years in 1999 and held ministerial berths.He was also conferred with the best parliamentarian award in 1998. Reddy got elected to Lok Sabha for five terms in 1984, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. He served as a Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the IK Gujral cabinet in 1998.In 2004, Reddy was re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha from Miryalguda Constituency and served as the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Union Minister for Urban Development.In 2009, he was re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Chevella constituency and served as a Union Minister for Urban Development and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

He was given the portfolio of Union Minister for the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of Science and Technology from 2012 to 2014.