E-Paper
HT This Day: September 26, 1971 -- Narasimha Rao elected new Andhra leader
Mr P. V. Narasimha Rao, Education Minister in the outgoing Brahmananda Reddy Ministry, was tonight unanimously elected leader or the Andhra Pradesh Congress (N) Legislature Party.
Mr P. V. Narasimha Rao, Education Minister in the outgoing Brahmananda Reddy Ministry, was tonight unanimously elected leader or the Andhra Pradesh Congress (N) Legislature Party.
Mr Rao’s name was proposed by Mr Brahmananda Reddy at an emergency meeting of the party here and seconded by the president of the APCC (N), Mr Narasa Reddy. It was approved amidst cheers.
The Congress (N) High Command emissaries, Union Ministers C. Subramaniam and Uma Shankar Dikshit who arrived here this afternoon, were present at the meeting.
The election of the new leader was preceded by consultations lasting four hours between the High Command emissaries and the members of the Congress (N) Leg. islature Party, including Ministers, Chairman, Mr J. Chokka Rao, and the APCC (N) president.
UNI, PTI add:
The meeting accepted the resignation of Mr Brahmananda Reddy and adopted a resolution placing on record its appreciation of the services rendered by Mr Reddy to the party, the State and the nation.
Dr Chenna Reddy, the arch political rival of Mr Brahmananda Reddy, was among the first to congratulate Mr Narasimha Rao on his election.
SIX-POINT FORMULA
Dr Reddy said: “In the context of the events finally culminating in the change of leadership, it becomes imperative for the new Chief Minister to give his immediate attention to the implementation of the remaining five points of the six-point formula evolved to achieve the aspirations of the people of Telangana.”
Dr Reddy expressed his confidence that Mr Narasimha Rao would give “top priority” to this matter.
The meeting of the Legislature Party. fixed for 7 p.m., began at 8-15 p.m. because of the delayed arrival of Mr Dikshit and Mr Subramaniam due to bad weather.
Mr Narasimha Rao will leave for New Delhi tomorrow for consultations with the Congress (N) Parliamentary Board about the composition of the new Cabinet.
Mr Rao met the Governor tonight- when he was formally invited to form the new Ministry.
He accepted the Governor’s invitation bitt wanted “some time” to submit the list of his Cabinet members.
Earlier, 26 former Telangana Praja Samiti legislators reiterated their “unanimous view” that none of the present Ministers should be chosen. They, however., added that they would abide by the Prime Minister’s decision.
Mr Konda Laskhman Bapuji and Mrs Sadalakshmi, former Ministers belonging to the now dissolved Telangana Congress, also met the High Command emissaries.
Fifty-year-old Narasimha Rao has handled different portfolios during the nine years he has been in the Government.
A member of the State Assembly since 1957 from the Manthani constituency, in Karimnagar dis* trict, Mr Rao joined the Sanjive Reddy Cabinet in 1962 after the general election and was given the portfolios of Law and Information.
He again found a place in the Brahmananda Reddy Ministry that was sworn-in in 1964 as Munster for Law and Endowments.
In the second Ministry of Mr Brahmananda Reddy that came to power after the 1987 elections, Mr Rao first took charge of the Health and Medical portfolios which he held for over a year. Subsequently, he took over Education.
He has the distinction of being a linguist, scholar, journalist, lawyer, educationist and an administrator.
Mr Rao is proficient in as many as six languages – English, Telugu, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Kannada. He has a sound knowledge of Sanskrit, too.
He was awarded the Sahitya Akademy’s first prize for his translation of a monumental work of Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana “Veyi Padagalu” into Hindi under the title “Sahasra Phan.” He translated into Telugu a Marathi novel “Pan Lakshat Kon Ghato” by the noted writer Hari Narayan Apte, which received much acclaim.
He was born in 1921 in Karimnagar district. He studied in the Nagpur University from where he obtained his B.Sc. and LL.B. degree. He is also a Sahitya Ratna in Hindi.
Nationalist to the core, he participated in the “Vande Mataram movement” in the erstwhile Hyderabad State. He also became the general secretary of the then Hyderabad State Congress Committee. In 1956, he became the vice-president of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee after the formation of the integrated State.
A great lover of languages Mr Narasimha Rao had made valuable contribution in making Telugu the official language of the State. He is in charge of the implementation of the official language and has played a key role in the preparation of the glossary of legislative and administrative terms for use in Government offices.
He is the chairman of the committee on examination reforms, constituted by the Union Government. He is a widower and has three sons and five daughters.
