Jaipal Reddy: A Parliamentarian par excellence

Hyderabad: The demise of former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy comes as a shock to the entire nation, especially to the Telugu states. His contributions to the country as an MLA, Parliamentarian, minister, spokesperson of Janata Party during Emergency and his role in the AP bifurcation, 2014, can never be forgotten. He continues to reside in the hearts of the citizens.

Jaipal Reddy was first elected to AP Assembly in 1978. Kasu Brahmananda Reddy was the one who brought him into politics. He was stricken with Polio when he was 18 months old, but that did not stop him from climbing up the ladder. He became the student leader at Osmania University. He completed bachelors in journalism and MA in English. Later, he went on to become MLA for four times, member of Rajya Sabha for two times and member of Lok Sabha for four times. He was also awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1988.

As the member of Assembly, he and Venkaiah Naidu made a great impact on MLAs with their homework, presentation and eloquence. He gave a tough time to the then Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy. He was a star speaker in the Parliament also. He was known for coining English phrases, forcing some members to look up the dictionaries.

During Emergency, Jaipal Reddy left Congress Party and joined Janata Party as its spokesperson. He remained in the party for about 10 years. During the tenure in the party, he was very critical of Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. He even contested against Indira Gandhi from Medak and lost.

As the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, he had a running battle with Ambanis. However, he was later shifted to the Ministry of Science and Technology in the cabinet reshuffle of the UPA II government.

Jaipal Reddy played a vital role in the formation of Telangana State. At the beginning of the movement, he was considered to be an integrationist, but he ultimately considered the demands of the separatists. Telangana leaders used to sit in for dharna in front of his residence. Later, he played an important role in the formation of Telangana as a Parliamentarian. He also made two intellectuals from Telangana to speak to the top RSS leader to clinch the issue of separate Telangana State.

Jaipal Reddy lost in the Parliamentary elections in 2014, and he did not contest in the 2019 elections. In his final days, he worked on the book titled, 'Ten Ideologies: The Great Symmetry Between Agrarianism and Industrialism.' He was planning to hold a meeting to release his book in Telugu version, but in the meantime, the unthinkable happened. He was undeniably the Parliamentarian par excellence.