Veteran Congress leader and former minister Sarojini Pulla Reddy died at her residence at Bowenpally, here in the wee hours of Sunday. She was 85 and suffered from cancer for several months. Cremation took place with full state honours at Bapuji Nagar burial ground, Bowenpally, on Sunday evening.
Joining the Congress five decades ago, Sarojini Pulla Reddy became the first woman mayor of Hyderabad (the second woman mayor in the country, after Tara Cherian-Madras) in 1966.
She was first elected to the Assembly from Malakpet in 1967 and represented the constituency twice. She was inducted into the state Cabinet in 1979 and worked as municipal administration minister and later as minister for women and child welfare.
She was also the first woman president of the Hyderabad Congress Committee and served as a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in 2001.
She graduated in 1940 and in 1945, married Pulla Reddy who died in 1970. Sarojini was close to former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Speaker Nadendla Manohar visited her residence and paid homage by laying wreaths.
Governor ESL Narasimhan, Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah, PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana, Rajya Sabha members KVP Ramachandra Rao and V Hanumantha Rao, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, YSRC honorary president YS Vijaya Lakshmi and CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy expressed their condolences over the death of Sarojini Pulla Reddy.