Date:30/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/30/stories/2007123054070600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Thousands bid tearful adieu to P. Janardhan Reddy

HYDERABAD: Thousands of people from different walks of life bid a tearful farewell to popular Congress leader and former Minister P. Janardhan Reddy here on Saturday.

The body of the Congress strongman and trade union leader was consigned to flames with police honours after being taken in a mammoth procession from his house in Domalguda to the Amberpet crematorium. Janardhan Reddy’s son Vishnuvardhan Reddy lit the pyre at around 4 pm amidst a near stampede situation when PJR’s admirers, who swelled by the hour, tried to break the security cordon.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, several Ministers, MPs, MLAs and Opposition leaders were present at the funeral. AICC general secretary Veerappa Moily earlier paid homage to the departed leader at his residence. The body was placed for a brief while at Gandhi Bhavan, APCC headquarters, for the public to have a last glimpse.

One of the biggest rallies of its kind in the city in recent years, the funeral procession threw normal life out of gear in several parts of the city. As the cortege moved at a snail’s pace, traffic came to a standstill in busy areas like Abids and Koti. Government offices and educational institutions remained closed as a holiday was declared while shops and restaurants along the procession route downed their shutters. People, stricken with grief over the demise of the mass leader, lined up in thousands alongside the road as the procession passed via Telugu Talli statue, Khairatabad, Ravindra Bharati, Nampally, and Mozamjahi market before reaching Amberpet. Congress workers carrying posters and placards raised slogans “PJR Amar Hai” as the flower bedecked vehicle carrying Janardhan Reddy’s body passed by.

Police had a tough time in controlling the crowd as PJR’s supporters entered into heated arguments while trying to come closer to the vehicle carrying his body. In spite of the presence of the Chief Minister and other VIPs, the situation was no better at Amberpet where police battled with the surging crowds to maintain a semblance of order.