Thousands bid tearful adieu to Gowtham Reddy

Nellore, Feb 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Thousands bid tearful adieu to Andhra Pradesh Minister Mekapati Gowtham Reddy, who was cremated with full state honours on Wednesday at Udayagiri in his native Nellore district.

The last rites of the leader, who died of cardiac arrest in Hyderabad on Monday, was performed by Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy Institute of Technology and Sciences.

Gowtham Reddy's son Krishna Arjun Reddy, who reached home from the US on Tuesday night, did the last rites.

The deceased leader's father and former MP Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy, mother, wife, daughter and other family members were inconsolable.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, his cabinet colleagues, MPs, MLAs and other leaders of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), relatives, friends and followers attended the funeral.

Police personnel fired in the air as a mark of respect as the YSRCP leader's son lit the funeral pyre.

Earlier, the funeral procession began from the minister's residence in Nellore and reached Udayagiri by road. Thousands of people paid their last respects to the departed leader enroute by showering petals and raising slogans of 'Gowtham Reddy amar rahe'.

The flower bedecked vehicle carrying the body with a big portrait of the minister with dozens of vehicles in the procession passed through different villages and towns, where people had gathered in large numbers.

Minister for industries, commerce and information technology Gowtham Reddy died of massive cardiac arrest at his residence in Hyderabad on Monday morning. He was 49.

The body was brought to Nellore by a helicopter on Tuesday and kept at his residence to enable people to pay their last respects.

Source: IANS