Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy (16 August 1920 – 27 September 2001) served as the chief minister of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

in 1983 and then from 1992 to 1994. Reddy was a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

six times. Reddy also served as a Union cabinet Minister, along with serving on several parliamentary committees. He lost the 1999 elections and subsequently retired from active politics.

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

is named after him.

Early life

Reddy was born in the remote village of Laddagiri in the

Kurnool district Kurnool district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the North western part of the state and is bounded by Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana in the north, Rai ...

to the family of a landlord. He began his involvement in politics at

Nandyal Nandyal is a city and District headquarters of Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Nandyal mandal in Nandyal revenue division. Demographics In the 2011 census of India, Nandya ...

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

and eventually became involved in the national level. He studied for his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

, at

Besant Theosophical College Besant Theosophical College, established in 1917, it is one of the oldest colleges in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, India. History Besant Theosophical College started on 19 July 1915 in Madanapalle and it was affiliated to Madras ...

Madanapalle Madanapalle is a town in Annamayya Rajampeta district and Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one if the largest city in the District. It is a Selection Grade Municipal City Council and located in Mada ...

and his

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

at Madras Law College, in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, (

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

) in 1947. While Reddy graduated law school, he rarely practiced law due to his political workload.

Personal life

Reddy was married on 7 June 1950 to Smt. K. Shyamla Reddy. He had two sons and three daughters. His son,

Kotla Jayasurya Prakasha Reddy Kotla Jayasurya Prakasha Reddy (born 18 September 1951) was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Kurnool constituency of Andhra Pradesh and is a member of Indian National Congress. Early life He was born in Hyderabad to ...

, was a Member of Parliament representing Kurnool Parliamentary constituency for his second term. Reddy's interests included sports, games, and reading. He was the captain of his hockey and football teams at Besant Theosophical College in Madanapalli, Andhra Pradesh and Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Sports Council from 1967 to 1969. He improved infrastructure in the Kurnool District and developed farmland in his native village.

Political career

Reddy represented several assembly constituencies in the district, but his major breakthrough came when he was elected as chairman of Zilla Parishad. He held several posts both in the

party and in central and state governments. He was the ninth chief minister in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. Reddy engaged ion value-based politics, and he remained respected even after losing his Chief Ministership to N. T. Rama Rao. After his death, "Kisan ghat" was erected in his memory by the state government. As a politician, Reddy was credited with starting 15 primary and secondary schools in villages throughout the Kurnool District in Andhra Pradesh. As Chief Minister, he was known for introducing a mid-day meal scheme in primary schools for children 6–11 years old in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He also became known for supplying rice at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 1.90 per kg for poor families. Reddy became MLA for the first time in 1955, but he was denied a ticket in 1962. Unlike other Chief Ministers, Reddy did not have any corruption charges brought against him.

Positions held

Throughout his 44-year career, Reddy served in both local and national positions. His work included the following: *1955-61: Member, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Secretary, Congress Legislature Party, Andhra Pradesh *1955-61: Member, Public Accounts Committee *1959-67: Chairman, Zila Parishad, Kurnool *1961-62: Chairman, Public Accounts Committee *1962-64: General-Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (Indira) .C.C.(I) Andhra Pradesh *1967-72: Member, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council *1967-71: Minister, Co-operation, Major Irrigation and Finance, Andhra Pradesh *1977: Elected to 6th Lok Sabha *1977-82: Member, Committee on Estimates *1980-81: President, P.C.C.(I), Andhra Pradesh *1980: Re-elected to 7th Lok Sabha (2nd term) *1982-83: Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh *1983-84: Union Cabinet Minister, Shipping and Transport and Union Cabinet Minister, Industry and Company Affairs *1989: Re-elected to 9th Lok Sabha (3rd term) *1990-91: Member, Committee on Subordinate Legislation **Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Water Resources **Member, Political Affairs Committee, Congress Parliamentary Party (C.P.P.) *1991: Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (4th term) *1991-92: Union Cabinet Minister, Law, Justice and Company Affairs *1992-94: Member, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly *1992-94: Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh (2nd term) *1996: Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (5th term) *1996-97: Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism *1998: Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (6th term) *1998-99: Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism **Member, Rules Committee **Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Civil Aviation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara 2001 deaths 1920 births Telugu politicians Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 Members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council People from Kurnool district Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh People from Rayalaseema Andhra Pradesh district councillors Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh Commerce and Industry Ministers of India Law Ministers of India Members of the Cabinet of India