Poignant scenes were witnessed as the mortal remains of Information Technology Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy, who died of heart attack in Hyderabad on Monday, were brought in an air ambulance to the helipad at the police parade grounds here on Tuesday.
Slogans such as ‘Goutham Reddy Amar Rahe’, ‘Johar Goutham Anna‘ reverberated as a large number of his admirers followed the decorated vehicle that was taken out in a procession from the police parade grounds. People from different walks of life paid their last respects to the Industries Minister as his body was brought in a flower-bedecked vehicle to his Dykes Road residence here.
Cabinet colleagues of Goutham Reddy including M. Sucharitha, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, A. Suresh, Gummanarur Jayaram and Anil Kumar Yadav placed wreaths on his body draped with national flag.
Political leaders such as Lakshmi Paravati, MPs Adala Prabhakar Reddy and Mopidevi Venkataramana and YSR Congress Party MLAs Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, K. Sanjeevaiah and Nallapareddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy and Telugu Desam Party Polit Bureau member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy were among those who paid homage to the deceased YSRCP leader. They consoled former YSR Congress Parliamentary Party leader Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy who found it hard to reconcile with the untimely demise of his son.
The district administration led by Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu and Superintendent of Police Ch. Vijaya Rao ensured orderly flow of the people and dignitaries who thronged the residence of Goutham Reddy and recalled his efforts for speedy industrialisation of the State.
Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy and a large number of dignitaries are scheduled to participate in the last rites of Goutham Reddy to be performed with the State honours at the Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy Institute of Technology and Science (MERITS) at Udayagiri on Wednesday.