Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister G Venkataswamy was cremated in Hyderabad on Tuesday in the presence of hundreds of his supporters and admirers.
Venkataswamy, 85, who was a member of the Cabinets of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao and also served as Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president breathed his last on Monday evening in a city hospital after a prolonged illness.
Hailing from the scheduled caste, Venkataswamy was in the forefront of the fight for the political empowerment of weaker sections and played a proactive role during his more than six decades long political career. Popularly known as “Kaka”, Venkataswamy had made his debut in Parliament in 1967 from Peddapally in Karimnagar district, a seat which he represented several times in lok Sabha.
Survived by two sons former Minister G Vinod and former MP G Vivek, Venkataswamy was an influential figure in the State Congress politics till he retired on the ground of health more than five years ago. His body was kept in state at the Congress headquarters where the party leaders and workers in large number gathered to pay their tributes.
President Pranab Mukherjee and former Speaker Meira Kumar also conveyed their condolences on the veteran leader’s death.
Cutting across party lines all the prominent politicians of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh also visited his residence and condoled his death. They include Telangna Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his Andhra Pradesh counter part and Telugu Desam President N Chandrababu Naidu, their cabinet colleagues, Telangana Congress president Ponnala lakshmaiah, other senior party leaders, state BJP President G Kishan Reddy. They described his death as a big loss to the State and the weaker sections.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi accompanied by senior leader Digvijay Singh also visited Hyderabad to pay his respects to Venkataswamy.