Jaipal Reddy fondly remembered

Hyderabad: Several speakers condoled the death of Congress senior leader and former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy and lauded his contribution to the country.

Participating in a condolence meeting organised by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Osmania University, in honour of Jaipal Reddy, who belonged to the 1964-1965 Bachelor of Journalism batch, Mohan Guruswamy, eminent columnist and a student leader then, fondly remembered Jaipal Reddy. He said Jaipal Reddy was like a teacher and a guru to him.

Senior journalist J V Lakshman Rao said Jaipal Reddy said the departed Congress leader had inspired him. "His speeches were so impressive that we used to compare his speeches with those of the Vice-Chancellor.

He followed American politics very keenly and stated that we need to learn from the US as it met with success."

K Ramchandra Murthy, former Editorial Director of Sakshi Group, recalled: "when the Andhra Pradesh bifurcation bill was being debated in Rajya Sabha on the last day of three sessions, I was at residence of Jaipal Reddy in Delhi, along with other friends. I am privy to the information that he was instrumental in getting the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha through his wide contacts.

Professor K Nageshwar said Jaipal Reddy had traits of a true journalist and was an eloquent speaker. Listening to him would be a feast of knowledge, he said and added that "whenever he called me, I used to listen to him more and speak less.

We had lengthy discussions from politics to demonetisation." Professor Ch Gopal Reddy, Registrar, Osmania University and Professor K Stevenson, Head, Department of Journalism and Mass communication were also present.