President Droupadi Murmu paid floral tributes to Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, former President of India, on his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 19.

Who was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy?

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

• He served as the sixth President of India from July 25, 1977, to July 25, 1982. 

• He was born on May 19, 1913 in Illur, Andhra Pradesh.

• It was Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to Anantapur in 1929 that changed the course of his life and left a great impact on Reddy. He participated in various Youth Congress activities.

• He became the secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Provincial Congress Committee in 1937 and remained in that post for 10 years.

• During 1940-45, he underwent imprisonment several times for participating in the freedom movement.   

• In 1946, he was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly. 

• He was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly. 

• Post-Independence, Reddy became a significant political figure in Andhra Pradesh. He served as the Minister of Prohibition, Housing, and Forests in the Composite Madras State before becoming the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

• He resigned from his post in 1959 to take over the presidency of Indian National Congress, a position he served from 1959 to 1962.

• He was again elected as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1962. 

• In June 1964, Reddy joined Lal Bahadur Shastri’s government as the minister of steel and mines. 

• He was elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha twice, where he was lauded for maintaining the decorum and dignity of the House and championing the cause of federalism.

• Immediately after his election as the Speaker, he resigned from Congress party membership. He became the first Speaker since Independence to have formally severed his party affiliation. 

• In July 1969, Reddy resigned from the post of Speaker to contest the Presidential election, which he lost by a narrow margin to V.V. Giri.

• Reddy was elected as the President of India in 1977 following the  Emergency. Notably, he was the first person to be elected to this high office unopposed. 

• As the President, Reddy worked with three Prime Ministers — Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Indira Gandhi.

• He authored a book titled, ‘Without Fear Or Favour: Reminiscences and Reflections of a President’.

• Reddy passed away on June 1, 1996 at the age of 83.

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