Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy ( pronunciation ^{? / I} , born May 19, 1913 in the village of Illuri, Anantapur district , † June 1, 1996 in Bangalore , Karnataka ) was an Indian politician . He was President of the Republic of India from 1977 to 1982 .

biography

NS Reddy was born into a Hindu farming family during the Madras presidency in British India (in what is now the Anantapur district in the state of Andhra Pradesh ). His mother tongue was Telugu in southern India . He first attended the Theosophical High School in Adyar and later the Arts College in Anantapur. From 1931 he became active in the Indian independence movement led by the Indian National Congress . During the war years 1940 to 1945 he was repeatedly imprisoned by the British colonial powers. In 1947 he was elected a member of the constituent assembly that prepared India's independence. He became President of the Indian National Congress . From 1956 to 1959 and from 1962 to 1964 he was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh , 1964/65 Union Minister for Steel and Mining, 1966/67 Union Minister for Transport and Tourism. From 1967 to 1969 he acted as speaker of the lower house, the Lok Sabha . After the unexpected death of the incumbent, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, on February 11, 1977, new presidential elections became necessary. The Janata Party presented Reddy as a consensus candidate for all political parties. On July 21, 1977, Reddy, who had no opponent, was declared President of India and took office on July 25, 1977.

During his tenure, NS Reddy made state visits to the following countries: the Soviet Union , Bulgaria, Kenya, Zambia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia

Reddy exercised his presidency under difficult conditions: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had lost the 1977 elections. She had previously ruled with emergency laws for 21 months . The country was troubled, with economic problems and food shortages. Indira's successor Morarji Desai took over the office of prime minister as chairman of a coalition of opposition parties, the Janata Party. After Indira Gandhia won the parliamentary election again in 1980, Reddy resigned from his presidency. His successor was Indira's preferred candidate Giani Zail Singh , who became the first Sikh to serve as President of India in July 1982.

Web links

• N. Sanjiva Reddy as Speaker of Parliament