Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy led a large number of dignitaries in paying a tearful farewell to departed Information Technology Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy as his mortal remains were consigned to flames with State honours at Udayagiri in Nellore district on Wednesday.
Assembly Speaker T. Seethram, Government Adviser (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, Government Chief Whip G. Srikanth Reddy, Ministers P. Anil Kumar, B. Srinivasa Reddy, A. Suresh, B. Rajendranath Reddy, M. Sankaranarayana and P. Venkatramaiah were among those who paid their last respects as Goutham Reddy’s son Krishnarjun Reddy lit the funeral pyre. Goutham Reddy’s father and former YSRC Parliamentary Party leader Rajamohan Reddy was present.
A galaxy of leaders, including Members of Parliament Ayodhya Ramireddy, P.V. Mithun Reddy, A. Prabhakar Reddy, M. Gurumoorthy and Galla Jayadav; legislators M. Chandrasekhar Reddy, B. Karunakar Reddy, K. Govardhan Reddy, A. Ramanarayana Reddy, K. Sanjeeviah, Ramireddy Pratap Kumar Reddy, V. Varaprasada Rao, K. Balarama Krishnamurthy, and A. Ram Babu; and MLCs Pothula Sunitha, B. Kalyan Chakravarthi and Vakatti Narayana Reddy paid homage to the departed leader.
Sea of humanity
It was a sea of humanity at the sprawling Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy Institute of Technology and Science (MeRITS), as a large number of admirers of Goutham Reddy assembled to have a glimpse of their beloved leader, who had striven for bringing the Penna river water from the Somasila reservoir to the parched lands in the drought-prone northern parts of Nellore district.
People gathered on both sides of the road en route and raised slogans such as ‘Goutham Anna Amar Hai’, as the last journey began from the Minister’s Nellore residence covering a distance of 100 km.
The flower bedecked vehicle, with the body wrapped in tricolour, passed through Buchireddipalem, Sangam, Nellorepalem, Marripadu and Brahmanapalli, the native village of Goutham Reddy, as his followers broke down in tears unable to come to terms with the untimely demise of the Minister, who had represented the backward Atmakur in the State Assembly twice.
Nellore District Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu, along with South Coastal region Deputy Inspector General C.M. Trivikram Varma, ensured orderly flow of the mourners on the occasion.
