Hyderabad: Palvai Govardhan Reddy was a man of integrity and honesty and a hard working representative of the people, qualities very rarely found in politics. Affectionate, polite yet very assertive and outspoken, he had been a successful politician for 60 years. In 1961 as a young student leader he met the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Nehru enquired about student politics in Osmania University. Palvai tried to explain in English, but did not make himself clear so Nehru told him, “Aap Hyderabad se aaye na, aap Urdu me baath kijiye, mai samajh jaunga (Since you are from Hyderabad you can speak to me in Urdu and I will understand).
Palvai switched to Urdu and at the end Nehru got the context and repeated the same and finally asked, “Aap ki baat yahi hai, na?” (This is what you mean, right?). Any other Congressman or young student leader would have said ‘yes’. But Palvai was different.
He told Nehru “Kya bolta mai, vahi bolta.” Nehru laughed and patted him on the back and said, “You are a very courageous leader, keep it up.”
Sharing this information with this correspondent, Palvai had said, “From then onwards I decided to be loyal to the Congress and to the Nehru-Gandhi family. Though I switched to Tiwari Congress for a few days, my loyalty was with Sonia Gandhi. Before that also, on one occasion I remained in the Reddy Congress for some time but later moved to the Congress headed by Indira Gandhi. I had an intimate relationship with the Nehru-Gandhi family. All these 60 years I’ve stood with the Congress and its ideology.”
He supported Marri Channa Reddy in the separate Telangana movement in 1969 but sided with Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy when he contested as the Congress’ official candidate for President the same year.
He did not follow Chenna Reddy when he launched the National Democratic Party of India. But along with Congress senior MP T. Chandrasekhar Reddy, Palvai lobbied for Chenna Reddy to become PCC president in 1989.
Similarly, he did not follow Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy when he shifted to the Janata Party in 1977. He told Sanjeeva Reddy during a meeting at the Lakeview Guesthouse, “Sir, I am your follower in principles and honesty, and I will never leave that path and the Congress.”
He stayed true to this. A Congress leader for 60 years, he was not involved in any corruption; rather, he fought against corrupt activities of his own colleagues in the party. His election affidavit in the 2012 Rajya Sabha elections showed that he owned just '2 lakh in cash and dry lands in Chandur mandal in Nalgonda district.
Some years ago, when thieves broke into his old house in his native village, Idikuda, in Chandur mandal, they found nothing worth stealing except some heavy brass plates.
While top Congress leaders had to wait for days to get an appointment with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Palvai met her whenever he wanted to and was instrumental in getting her to look favourably on the demand for a separate Telangana state.
He urged Congress leaders to form alliances or make seat adjustments with the TRS, when his colleagues insisted that the Congress could form a government on its own.
He was very blunt in expressing his opinions and didn’t care if it hurt other leaders. He made sweeping remarks about almost all Congress Chief Ministers and PCC presidents in undivided AP.
He was often in poor health and was hospitalised several times, but that did not deter him from working and he often travelled on the very day he was discharged.
Palvai travelled very often from Hyderabad to his native village and also to other states and countries. He was on his way to a meeting in Kullu when he suffered the fatal heart attack.
Palvai was one of the founders of the Jawaharlal National Youth Centre and was still its working president.
He had some peculiar qualities. Though a staunch proponent of Telangana, he maintained very cordial relations with leaders from other parties and regions.
Senior Congress leader Gade Venkata Reddy (Coastal Andhra), who was against bifurcation, had been his friend for the last five decades, as was Dr M.V. Mysoora Reddy from Rayalaseema. He put friendship above party politics.
Of late he had started grooming his daughter Sravanthi Reddy for politics and even tried to get her a Congress ticket. When she failed to get a ticket due to the political rivalry with the Komatireddy brothers, Palvai encouraged her to stand as an Independent.
