Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth president of India, serving from 1977 to 1982.

Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence movement, he went on to hold several key offices in independent India — as Deputy Chief minister of Andhra state and the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, a two-time Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a Union Minister— before becoming the Indian president.

Born in present-day Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, Reddy completed his schooling at Adayar and joined the Government Arts College at Anantapur.

He quit to become an Indian independence activist and was jailed for participating in the Quit India Movement.

Reddy was born into a Telugu-speaking Hindu family in Illur village, Madras Presidency (present-day Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh) on 19 May 1913.

He studied at the Theosophical High School at Adayar in Madras and later enrolled at the Government Arts College at Anantapur, an affiliate of the University of Madras, as an undergraduate.

Reddy joined the Indian struggle for independence from the British Raj following Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Anantapur in July 1929 and dropped out of college in 1931.

He was closely associated with the Youth League and participated in a student satyagraha.

In 1938, Reddy was elected Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Provincial Congress Committee, an office he held for ten years.

During the Quit India Movement, he was imprisoned and was mostly in jail between 1940 and 1945.

Released in March 1942, he was arrested again in August and sent to the Amraoti jail where he served time with activists T Prakasam, S. Satyamurti, K. Kamaraj and V V Giri till 1945.

He was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1946 as a Congress party representative.

Elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1946 as a Congress representative, Reddy became secretary of the Congress' legislature party.

He was also a Member of the Indian Constituent Assembly from Madras.

From April 1949 to April 1951, he was the Minister for Prohibition, Housing and Forests of the Madras State.

Reddy lost the 1951 election to the Madras Legislative Assembly to the Communist leader Tarimela Nagi Reddy, his brother-in-law.

In 1951, in a closely contested election, he was elected President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee defeating N. G. Ranga.

Reddy became the deputy chief minister of Andhra State in 1953 and the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

When the Andhra State was formed in 1953, T. Prakasam became its Chief Minister and Reddy became the deputy.

After the formation of the state of Andhra Pradesh by incorporating Telangana with the Andhra State, Reddy became its first Chief Minister from 1 November 1956 to 11 January 1960.

In 1958, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati bestowed the degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws on him because of his role in its founding.

Reddy was married to Neelam Nagaratnamma, the sister of politician T. Nagi Reddy.

The couple had one son and three daughters.

Reddy's first term as Chief Minister ended in 1960 after he resigned on being elected President of the Indian National Congress.

Reddy served thrice as President of the Indian National Congress at its Bangalore, Bhavnagar and Patna sessions during 1960 to 1962.

He was Chief Minister for a second time from 12 March 1962 to 20 February 1964, thus holding that office for over five years.

Reddy was MLA from Sri Kalahasti and Dhone respectively during his stints as Chief Minister.

The Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam multipurpose river valley projects were initiated during his tenure.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh later renamed the Srisailam project to Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Sagar in his honour.

The Congress governments under Reddy placed emphasis on rural development, agriculture and allied sectors.

The shift towards industrialisation remained limited and was largely driven by the central government's investments in large public sector enterprises in the state.

At the Congress session at Goa in 1962, Reddy's speech stating India's determination to end the Chinese occupation of Indian territory and the irrevocable nature of the liberation of Goa was enthusiastically received by attendees.

He was a union cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi from 1964 to 1967 and Lok Sabha Speaker from 1967 to 1969.

In 1964, he resigned voluntarily following unfavourable observations made against the Government of Andhra Pradesh by the Supreme Court in the Bus Routes Nationalisation case.

He later retired from active politics but returned in 1975, responding to Jayaprakash Narayan's call for "Total Revolution" against the Indira Gandhi Government.

Elected to Parliament in 1977 as a candidate of the Janata Party, Reddy was unanimously elected Speaker of the Sixth Lok Sabha and three months later was elected unopposed as President of India.

As president, Reddy worked with Prime Ministers Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Indira Gandhi.

Reddy was succeeded by Giani Zail Singh in 1982 and he retired to his farm in Anantapur.

He died in 1996 and his samadhi is at Kalpally Burial Ground, Bangalore.

In 2013, the Government of Andhra Pradesh commemorated Reddy's birth centenary.