Manmohan Singh pays glowing tributes to Jaipal Reddy, says India lost a scholar politician

Remembering his old colleague Jaipal Reddy at the latter’s ‘sansmaran sabha’(condolence meet) in New Delhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh paid glowing tribute to Reddy and said that he was an unmatched orator whose speeches were full of wit, humour and in-depth knowledge of the subject at hand.

“He served as minister in various ministries at the Centre like Information and Broadcasting, Urban Development and Petroleum & Natural Gas. He was a very good administrator and it was his farsightedness which was instrumental in bringing forth the Prasar Bharati Bill,” Singh said.

“He piloted the Prasar Bharati Bill when he was the Minister of Information & Broadcasting to give autonomy to Doordarshan and All India Radio,” he underlined.

Jaipal Reddy passed away on July 28 this year at a Hyderabad hospital where he was undergoing treatment. He was 77.

“For 10 years he was my colleague in UPA Cabinet and a lawmaker for 45 years. It is no exaggeration to say that in his death, the Indian politics has lost an excellent orator, a very good administrator, an outstanding Parliamentarian and a great leader,” the former prime minister said.

He said that Reddy played a “crucial role” in convincing the government and the Congress party to grant separate statehood to Telangana.

“He was a staunch supporter for Telangana and he played a silent yet vital role towards taking the historic decision of dividing Andhra Pradesh and granting separate Statehood for Telangana in 2014,” Singh said on Tuesday.

He also mentioned Reddy’s most notable work, "Ten Ideologies: The Great Asymmetry between Agrarianism and Industrialism” which has many firsts to its credit.

They include dealing with almost all the influential ideologies of our times within the compass of a short book, Singh said.

“A politician with a difference he was an eloquent orator, a writer, a scholar and a witty speaker. His speeches were packed with wit, criticism and in-depth information.

“True to his character, popularity and vision he bid farewell to us and this World as a spotless Leader who never faced any charge of corruption or impropriety throughout his life,” Manmohan Singh said.