A journey of a peasant to the highest office of the country

The birth centenary celebrations of former President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy have been held and former President Pranab Mukerji participated in the celebrations.

This letter delves deep into the contributions made by Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy to the nation.

The leader of such gigantic achievements has not been given his due place so as to emulate for others in the larger interests of society. May 19, 2019 is a red-letter day in the annals of Indian history and the youth of the country should popularise his achievements and emulate the ideas of this great son of India.

Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was a freedom fighter, the architect of Andhra Pradesh, a visionary, a leader of great political acumen and reputation.

He donned several roles – first as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Member of Parliament from the Congress, Union Minister and finally, President of India. He was also Lok Sabha Speaker twice. He adorned all coveted posts except that of the Prime Minister.

Sanjeeva Reddy was born in Illuru, a small village in drought prone area on May 19, 1913. He had schooling in Rishy Valley School along with Terimerla Nagi Reddy, Tenneti Viswanatham and Neelam Rajesekhara Reddy.

He continued his BA studies in the Government Degree College, Anantapur and later plunged into the freedom struggle and joined the Indian National Congress.

It was as he got inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, he plunged into politics. His contemporaries are Puchallapalli Sundaraiah, Chenchu Rajeswara Rao, Terimerla Nagi Reddy, N G Ranga, Tenmati Viswanatham and Vavilala Gopalakrishnaiah.

Sanjeeva Reddy was first elected MLA in 1944. He passed away on 1st June, 1996. He was responsible for the rapid growth of Andhra Pradesh.

He was successful in completing the Nagarjuna Sagar with the rapport of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Prakasam Barrage, Sri Venkateswara University, TNTU College in Anantapur and others are the fruits of his hard work.

The injustice done to Telangana and Rayalaseema regions were corrected by the construction of Srisailam reserviour. Honouring Sanjeeva Reddy is honouring our farmers.

The young should emulate his ideas and give him the correct place and the Centre should confer on him the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award as envisaged by P S Ramamohan Rao, former Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Dr Agarala Eswara Reddi, former Speaker, AP Legislative Assembly