K'taka Speaker breaks down while recalling Jaipal Reddy

Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar on Sunday broke down while recalling his "mentor" S Jaipal Reddy, who passed away in Hyderabad earlier today.

"Jaipal Reddy has been my mentor and was personally very close to me. I considered him as my elder brother and have known him since the 1980s. He was an outstanding parliamentarian. It is a sad day for me," an emotional Kumar told reporters here.

Calling him as a politician with "unbreachable integrity" and "best human being", Kumar said that he was fortunate to work with stalwarts like Reddy.

"I salute this man (Reddy). I have been fortunate to witness such stalwarts (in my life). Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jyoti Basu, LK Adv, Somnath Chatterjee and George Fernandes," the Speaker said.

Reddy (77), breathed his last at 1:30 am in the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad. He was being treated for high fever.

Born in 1942, Reddy's journey into the political discourse started when he was elected as the president of the Andhra Pradesh Youth Congress.

He went on to become a Congress legislator for four consecutive terms in the 1970s and held key portfolios in various governments, thereafter.

In 1979, he joined Janata Dal and returned to the Congress party after 20 years in 1999 and held ministerial berths.

He was also conferred with the best parliamentarian award in 1998.

Reddy got elected to Lok Sabha for five terms in 1984, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009.

He served as a Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the IK Gujral cabinet in 1998.

In 2004, Reddy was re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha from Miryalguda Constituency and served as the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Union Minister for Urban Development.

In 2009, he was re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Chevella constituency and served as a Union Minister for Urban Development and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

He was given the portfolio of Union Minister for the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of Science and Technology from 2012 to 2014.

Reddy is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

( With inputs from ANI )