'Golconda Lion' Baddam Bal Reddy dies at 74

HYDERABAD: Senior BJP leader and three-time MLA Baddam Bal Reddy, better known as 'Golconda Lion' in the Old City, passed away here on Saturday after a prolonged battle with cancer and diabetes. He was 74.
He underwent a surgery earlier this month for removing a tumour, but his condition deteriorated leading to a multi-organ failure, doctors at Care Hospitals said.

That Bal Reddy did not lose his political spark was evident when he unsuccessfully contested in the December assembly elections from Rajendranagar constituency. He was much in news in 2004 when a group trained by Pakistan's ISI made an assassination bid on him. He survived. One of the conspirators Syed Zakir Raheem was arrested in 2017, while the main accused, Farhat Ullah Ghori, is still absconding. Bal Reddy won as an MLA from Karwan seat in 1985, 1989 and 1994 polls.

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed shock over the demise of the veteran leader and conveyed his condolences to members of the bereaved family. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu said Bal Reddy worked tirelessly for his party and stuck to its ideology throughout his life. "He is a role model for the youth," Naidu said.

BJP state president K Laxman said Bal Reddy was an RSS worker and held key positions in the party. He recalled that Reddy took part in movements during Emergency and fought against anti-social elements in the Old City. BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya, national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao, MLA T Raja Singh, leaders G Kishan Reddy and N Ramchander Rao paid their last respects to Reddy.

The BJP leaders said it was a great loss for the party in Telangana. The leaders said Bal Reddy's body would be kept in party office at Nampally from 1pm to 2pm to allow people and party workers to pay last respects. A funeral rally would be taken out from the party office to the Mahaprasthanam in Jubilee Hills where his final rites would be performed.