HYDERABAD: The BJP has lost a first generation leader who was one of only two party MPs to enter the Lok Sabha in 1984. After former Hanumakonda MP Chandupatla Janga Reddy passed away due to illness on Sunday, condolences started pouring in from across the country from BJP leaders.
Janga Reddy, who was born in 1935 at Parkal in Warangal district, had been associated with the RSS since 1954. As a student activist, he participated in the Non-Mulki Movement and in the movement against merger of Telangana with Andhra region. He also participated in the movement against Vishalandhra and submitted a memorandum to the Fasal Ali Commission.
Inspired by leaders like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he played a key role in spreading the ideology of the RSS across Warangal district by establishing Shakhas in the region.
He worked as a Hindi teacher before resigning from service and joining the Jana Sangh in 1965, establishing the party in Parkal region. In 1967, he contested the Assembly election representing the Jan Sangh from Parkal constituency with 'Diya' (lamp) as his election symbol and won the election. He was known to have transformed the entire constituency by extending electricity connectivity to cover rural areas and became popular among the masses as "Current Janganna."
He also served as the MLA from Shayampeth assembly constituency by representing the Janata Party and got elected again in 1983 from that constituency as the BJP's candidate, despite the political wave created by former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao.
By winning the Lok Sabha elections from Hanumakonda in 1984, he became one of only two BJP MPs elected to the Lok Sabha and the only BJP MP to have won from south India back then.
Sources inside the party told The New Indian Express that his importance was strategically brought down by two groups in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, one led by the Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and the other led by former Governor of Sikkim late V Rama Rao, former Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and former BJP President late Bangaru Laxman. As he had not played group politics and was a straightforward person, his role in the party waned with the passing of time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President JP Nadda, BJP state in-charge Tarun Chugh and other national leaders called Janga Reddy's son Satyapal Reddy expressing their grief.
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya said that Janga Reddy had raised several issues concerning the farmers and that the foundation he has laid in Warangal region long back, had resulted in several BJP leaders emerging from that region.
BJP State President Bandi Sanjay Kumar stated that Janga Reddy had told him on phone that this time around, the BJP had good prospects of winning the assembly elections and coming to power in Telangana. He said that the party workers will take inspiration from Reddy to realise his dream.
Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy, OBC Morcha President Dr K Laxman, former BJP State President N Indrasena Reddy and others have expressed their condolences over the leader's demise.