The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Man of the masses, faults and all News Analysis

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Monday, Dec 31, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Man of the masses, faults and all News Analysis

S. Nagesh Kumar

The final farewell that PJR received from the masses would befit a head of Government

HYDERABAD: The outpouring of grief for Congress MLA P. Janardhan Reddy was demonstrative not only of his popularity as a man of the masses and a redoubtable trade union leader but also the political void his end had created in the Twin Cities.

A measure of his strong bond with his constituency was the sobriquet he earned as ‘Khairatabad MLA’, though he served as Minister thrice and did a fairly distinguished five-year stint as Congress Legislature Party leader in difficult times for the party. His appeal to the poor, the working classes and the downtrodden across party and constituency boundaries was such that politics in Hyderabad will not be the same again for quite some time.

Controversial figure

There was hardly any family in the vast constituency which he did not directly help or at least visit for a marriage or other social event. It was this sense of personal loss among thousands of his constituents that drew them to his funeral, the turnout at which has a parallel only with NTR’s last journey.

Yet, PJR was a controversial figure who drew strong criticism from his opponents for engaging in irregular land deals, intervening to settle property disputes and use of strong arm methods by his followers. More recently, the clash between his son and the Chief Minister’s younger brother and nephew at Jubilee Hills drew little sympathy for him.

These did not detract Janardhan Reddy from his fierce commitment to the underprivileged and workers’ rights. Every summer, he would organise, almost as a ritual, a procession of women carrying pots to highlight the drinking water shortage in slums and deserves credit for pressuring successive Governments to prepare and implement a long term plan of augmenting the city’s water supply from the Krishna.

Broad-based agenda

Yet, his agenda transcended city-related issues when he became leader of the 26-member strong CLP in 1994.

In spite of his poor skills of articulation and modest knowledge of the English language, he fought uncompromisingly against the TDP Government headed by Chandrababu Naidu. He overcame these handicaps by making an issue of complex irrigation issues seeking the help of experts. Although he attracted ridicule about his rusticity, sometimes quite uncharitable, from Mr. Naidu, he remained unfazed and pressed ahead with his case against the Government.

A quintessential Congressman, he was committed to the party, unwavering in his loyalty to the Gandhi family and yet a dissident. He disagreed strongly with the contention that Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was solely responsible for the party’s victory in 2004 and said as much.

YSR ignored his claim for inclusion of the senior MLA in the Cabinet and meted out similar treatment to other veterans like Gade Venkata Reddy, P. Sambasiva Raju and G. Muddukrishnama Naidu. Although he did not become a Minister, the final farewell that PJR received from the masses would befit a head of Government.

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