A pall of gloom descended on Brahamanapalli in SPSR Nellore district, the native village of Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy who died of heart attack on Monday.
On coming to know of the untimely death of their leader, the villagers, including a large number of farmers, assembled at his ancestral house and wept inconsolably. They recalled the services rendered by the Minister along with his father and former YSR Congress Parliamentary Party leader Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy to improve the living conditions of the local people and augment civic infrastructure.
Political career
A confidante of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Goutham Reddy had handled several important portfolios, including Information and Technology, Commerce and Skill Development, on becoming a Cabinet Minister for the first time in 2019. The two-time MLA from Atmakur had won with a comfortable 31,000 majority in 2014 when he entered active politics. He retained the seat in 2019 with a reduced margin of over 22,000 votes defeating the nearest Telugu Desam Party rivals Gunturu Murali Kanna Babu and Bolineni Krishnayya.
He had been steering the KMC constructions since 1997 after completing his post graduation in textile technology from the University of Manchester in England. He had his graduation from Badruka College of Commerce and Arts in Hyderabad and schooling in Good Shepherd International School in Ooty in Tamil Nadu.
Funeral would be conducted at Brahamanapalli on Wednesday, according to District Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu who oversaw the arrangements along with Superintendent of Police Ch. Vijaya Rao and other district officials.
The body of the Minister will be kept at his residence here for people to pay their last respects, according to State Irrigation Minister P. Anil Kumar Yadav.
Dubai Expo
Mr. Goutham Reddy had handled the industries portfolio during the tough COVID-19 times and strove hard to attract investments to Andhra Pradesh. Successful conclusion of his visit to the Dubai Expo saw the State attract investments to the tune of ₹5,150 crore. Five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with investors across the key sectors of electric vehicles, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) , infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, smart city solutions with a view to generate 3,340 direct and 7,500 indirect jobs.
The Minister had led multiple roadshows to woo investors by highlighting the growth potential of Andhra Pradesh. Under his stewardship, the State had topped the country in the ease of doing business in 2020.
Goutham Reddy was instrumental in evolving the Andhra Pradesh Electronics policy 2021-24 to take advantage of the growth in the Indian market for electronics goods to USD 400 Billion by 2025. He had laid the foundation for the growth of three industrial corridors— Visakhapatnam-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Bengaluru— cutting across the State.
