People, politicians pay respect

hyderabad: it was a sad and tearful farewell to the peddayana kotla vijayabhaskara reddy, by people from all strata of the society his residence as well as at the gandhi bhavan,the state congress headquarters here on friday. an endless stream of mourners turned up at his residence from early hours on friday to pay their last respects to the former chief minister who passed away on thursday.senior party leaders and members of the congress working committee (cwc) motilal vora, d tiwari and r k dhawan paid their respects on behalf of the congress president sonia gandhi and congress party. tiwari told reporters that reddy was a dedicated worker, who was inspired by mahatma gandhi and participated in the freedom struggle and his demise was a loss to the country and as well as to the congress. reddy was known for his honesty, integrity and dedication in service of the people and understood the needs of the grassroots level worker of the party. all india congress committee treasurer motilal vora said that reddy was a stalwart and true patriot of the gandhian era and a capable administrator. senior leader r k dhawan said that he had lost a friend and the state a great leader. party chief spokesman s jaipal reddy said vijayabhaskara reddy had a long political career spanning over half century with a clean record. film stars chiranjeevi and akkineni nageshwara rao, film producers m s reddy and allu aravind, union minister of state for defence u krishnam raju, former minister and senior tdp leader kodela sivaprasad rao were among those who paid their respects to the departed leader at his residence here. later, his glass encased body was taken in a procession in a bedecked carrier with a police band playing amidst shouts of kotla vijayabhaskar reddy amar hai to the gandhi bhavan. the body was kept at the party office for party leaders and workers to pay their last respects, before it was taken to kurnool to be cremated on saturday. the body was taken in a procession from gandhi bhavan with a slow march by the police with guns reversed and the band playing as a mark of respect to the departed leader. pradesh congress committee president m satyanarayana rao, congress legislature party leader y s rajashekara reddy, mahila congress president j geetha reddy, former chief ministers n janardhan reddy and nadendla bhaskar rao, cwc member sarojini pulla reddy, members of parliament renuka chowdary and dasari narayana rao, left parties leaders k satyanarayana, puvvada nageshwara rao, omkar, b n reddy and many congress mlas, former ministers and former mps were among those who paid their respects to the departed leader. the congress general secretary k r amos in a press release said that a condolence meeting in memory of vijayabhaskar reddy would be held on september 30 at 11:00 a.m. at gandhi bhavan.