Chandupatla Janga Reddy, former BJP MP, who shot to fame defeating P.V. Narasimha Rao from Hanamakonda Parliament constituency in 1984, passed away on Saturday due to age related issues.
A Jan Sangh activist from his early days, Mr. Reddy dedicated his life to the ideology of the Jan Sangh and later the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His body was kept at the BJP headquarters in the city for people to pay their last respects. He would be cremated in Warangal later this evening.
Known as a giant killer for defeating the Congress stalwart P.V. Narasimha Rao, who later went on to become the Prime Minister of the country, Mr. Reddy was one of the two BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha. The other was A.K Patel elected from Mehsana in Gujarat. Even the top BJP leaders including Atal Behari Vajpayee lost the election held in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Mr. Reddy was also elected thrice to the Assembly in the combined Andhra Pradesh. He represented Parkal constituency from 1967 to 72 as a Jan Sangh member); Shayampet constituency from 1978 to 83 as Janata Party member and again from 1983 to 84 as member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Born in Parkal in the combined Warangal district, Mr. Reddy worked as a teacher before joining politics and was part of the separate Telangana movement in 1969. Union Tourism Minister, G. Kishan Reddy and Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay condoled the demise of Janga Reddy. Senior leaders Nallu Indrasena Reddy, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao and Eatala Rajender, MLA also condoled his death while recalling his services to the party and the state.
In a statement, TPCC president, A. Revanth Reddy expressed condolences to the family members and said Mr. Janga Reddy stood for promoting Parliamentary practices and political values throughout his life.
