S Jaipal Reddy was treasure house of wisdom and knowledge: Dr Manmohan Singh

Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh described former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy as 'a treasure house of wisdom and knowledge' while delivering a speech at the 'Sansmaran Sabha' orgsed to pay tribute to the departed leader at Dr Ambedkar International Centre here on Tuesday.

Singh said that for ten years, Reddy worked as his colleague in the UPA Cabinet and a law-maker for forty-five years. "It is no exaggeration to say that in his death, Indian politics has lost an excellent orator, a very good administrator, an outstanding Parliamentarian, and a great leader," he said.

"His leadership quality was a mix of a lot of things, the first and foremost was about having faith in his beliefs. He had solid faith in his ideas. As in the case of a true leader, he was a very good communicator, listening to others and setting examples for others to follow. A politician with a difference. He was an eloquent orator, a writer, a scholar, and a witty speaker. His speeches were packed with wit, criticism and in-depth information," said Singh.

Recalling Reddy's journey, Singh said he started as a student activist, rose to become president of the Indian Youth Congress from Andhra Pradesh, and then plunged into national politics braving polio among a host of other challenges.

"He went on to play an active role in national affairs for over four decades. His popularity and followings grew tremendously in Andra Pradesh which made him victorious four times to the Andhra Assembly polls and five times in the Lok Sabha elections," he said.

"His political journey was of grit and determination. Hailing from a backward village in Mahbubnagar, notwithstanding his physical disability affected by polio and other difficulties, he grew from an ordinary student leader to become a very important central minister," said Singh.

"He was somebody that people looked up to, both in the public and also within the Congress leadership, and never minced words in expressing his opinion. In his political career, Jaipal Ji stood for righteousness and always opposed anything which he felt was unjust or wrong. Whether it pleased somebody or not, he always went according to his beliefs," Singh added.

Singh went on to say that Reddy played a crucial role in convincing the government and the Congress party the importance of granting separate statehood for Telangana. He always thought about the development of the poor people especially the downtrodden and weaker sections of society.

"My friend, Jaipal Ji, was not only an excellent orator but was also an eminent writer. He authored a very influential and thought-provoking book entitled -- 'Ten Ideologies: The Great Asymmetry between Agrarism and Industrialism' which I had the privilege of launching. The book has many firsts to its credit. These include dealing with almost all the influential ideologies of our times within the compass of a short book," said Singh.

( With inputs from ANI )