Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Reddy in January 1977
6th President of India
In office
25 July 1977 – 25 July 1982
Prime Minister
Vice President
Preceded byFakhruddin Ali Ahmed[a]
Succeeded byZail Singh
4th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
In office
17 March 1967 – 19 July 1969
DeputyR.K. Khadilkar
Preceded byHukam Singh
Succeeded byGurdial Singh Dhillon
In office
26 March 1977 – 13 July 1977
DeputyGodey Murahari
Preceded byBali Ram Bhagat
Succeeded byK. S. Hegde
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
23 March 1977 – 13 July 1977
Preceded byPendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
Succeeded byPendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
ConstituencyNandyal
8th Union Minister of Transport and Aviation
In office
24 January 1966 – 13 March 1967
Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi
Preceded byRaj Bahadur
Succeeded byV. K. R. V. Rao
3rd Union Minister of Steel and Mines
In office
11 January 1966 – 24 January 1966
Prime MinisterGulzarilal Nanda
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byC. M. Poonacha
In office
9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966
Prime MinisterLal Bahadur Shastri
Preceded byChidambaram Subramaniam
Succeeded byHimself
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
1974–1977
Preceded byJC Nagi Reddy
Succeeded byG Swamy Naik
Constituency Andhra Pradesh
In office
1970–1972
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byN. Janardhana Reddy
Constituency Andhra Pradesh
In office
1964–1970
Preceded byS Chenna Reddy
Succeeded byHimself
Constituency Andhra Pradesh
President of the Indian National Congress
In office
1960–1963
Preceded byIndira Gandhi
Succeeded byK. Kamaraj
1st Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
In office
12 March 1962 – 20 February 1964
Governor
Deputy Chief Minister
Preceded byDamodaram Sanjivayya
Succeeded byKasu Brahmananda Reddy
In office
1 November 1956 – 11 January 1960
Governor
Deputy Chief Minister
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byDamodaram Sanjivayya
1st Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra
In office
30 March 1955 – 31 October 1956
GovernorChandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
Chief MinisterBezawada Gopala Reddy
Preceded byPresident's rule
Succeeded byOffice Dissolved
In office
1 October 1953 – 15 November 1954
GovernorChandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
Chief MinisterTanguturi Prakasam
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byPresident's rule
In office
1953–1955
AICC President
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byBezawada Gopala Reddy
Personal details
Born(1913-05-19)19 May 1913
Illur, Madras Presidency, British India (present-day Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died1 June 1996(1996-06-01) (aged 83)
Bangalore, Karnataka, India (present-day Bengaluru)
Political partyJanata Party (from 1977)
Other political
affiliations
Indian National Congress (before 1977)
Spouse
Neelam Nagaratnamma
(m. 1935)
RelativesT. Nagi Reddy (brother-in-law)
Alma materUniversity of Madras

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (pronunciation; 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.[1]

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. He was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1946 as a Congress party representative. Reddy became the deputy chief minister of Andhra State in 1953 and the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. 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. 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.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Speech by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the concluding function of the centenary celebrations of the former President of India, Dr.Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.