Former Telangana Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, who died early on Thursday, was a trade union leader and a founder member of State unit of Hind Mazdoor Sabha, one of the five national trade unions. He was 86.He was diagnosed with pneumonia when he
was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on October 13 after he complained of breathlessness. The oxygen levels in his body were found to have dropped sharply.
Fondly called ‘Narsanna’, he is survived by wife, a son and a daughter.
Narasimha Reddy was born into an agricultural family in Neredugomma village near Devarakonda in erstwhile Nalgonda district. He joined politics attracted by the socialist ideology of Ram Manohar Lohia. He was Janata Party MLA twice from Musheerabad constituency in combined Andhra Pradesh in 1978 and 1985.
He plunged into the separate-Telangana movement after K. Chandrasekhar Rao floated the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2001. He had been actively associated with all the party activities ever since. In the absence of Mr. Rao, it was Mr. Narasimha Reddy who was given the responsibility of hoisting the national flag on occasions such as Independence and Republic Days at the party office.
He was also the party representative at several platforms on the demand for formation of Telangana State.
Elected for the third time as MLA from Musheerabad on TRS ticket in 2004, Mr. Narasimha Reddy was one of the six Ministers of the party to share power with the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress government in the State.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi pulled out of the alliance, both in UPA government at the Centre and the State, after two years. As Backward Classes Minister, Mr. Narasimha Reddy was in charge of YSR's native Kadapa district. He had lost a by-election in the term of the Assembly from 2004 to 2009 and the general elections in 2009.
After the formation of Telangana State in 2014, he was made Home Minister by Mr. Rao. He also handled the subjects of labour and employment.
As he was not a member of the Assembly, Mr. Narasimha Reddy was inducted into the Cabinet of Mr. Rao as a Member of the Legislative Council.
He was denied party ticket to contest Assembly elections in 2018. Mr. Narasimha Reddy was known for his tough appearance in spite of advancing age. The name ‘Bullet Narsanna’ became his sobriquet as he was familiar riding the Bullet two-wheeler before joining the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
