Former Union Minister Jaipal Reddy no more

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy passed away during the early hours of Sunday here at a private hospital following a brief illness. The 77-year-old is survived by two sons and a daughter.

Family sources say that Reddy had been suffering from pneumonia for some time and had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Gachibowli. On Saturday night, his condition turned critical and he breathed his last at 1.29 am. Cremation will take place on Monday at Necklace Road.

Born on January 16, 1942 at Madgul village in Telangana's Mahbubnagar district to Sudini Durga Reddy and Yashodamma, Reddy did his post-graduation from Osmania University here. While his political life began with the Congress, he quit the party in protest against the Emergency in 1975. He later joined the Janata Party and had been its general secretary between 1985 and 1988. He returned to the Congress in the 90s.

He won as an MLA from the Kalwakurthy Assembly constituency of the combined AP for the first time in 1969 and represented it for four times. In 1984, he got elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from the Mahbubnagar Parliamentary constituency. In 1999 and 2004, he represented the Miryalguda Lok Sabha seat and in 2009, he shifted to Chevella. In 1990 and 1996, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha and was the floor leader of the Janata Dal. He served as the Information and Broadcasting Minister in IK Gujral government. In the Manmohan Singh government, he was the Petroleum Minister and later, the Urban Development Minister. He won the best parliamentarian award in 1998.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in his condolence message, described Jaipal Reddy as a great parliamentarian. Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy and TPCC Chief Capt. Uttam Kumar Reddy also offered condolences to the bereaved family.