Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Quotes

After Indira Gandhi revoked the emergency and declared general elections, he contested for General Elections, won from the Nandyal Parliamentary Constituency and became Speaker in the Lok Sabha as the democracy had been restored after two years of emergency, which came about through democratic process of the ballot.

The presidents of India carried their own cultural dress code within and without India. They remained among the common people. When he became the president, he marched from his farm to Delhi to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan.

After the turmoil in the Congress Party, he chose to retire to home town Anantpur, and devoted most of his time to agriculture, which had always been very dear to him, as he belonged to the peasantry family. For quite some time he remained in wilderness, and had been buying time for an appropriate opportunity to re-netter politics.

He was not a weak president and he did indulge in politics. He cautioned Prime Minister Morarji Desai on appointment of V.Shankar as principal secretary, Further, he vetoed the outgoing Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s proposal for a broadcast to the nation after his resignation from the post. He also warned the caretaker Charan Singh government not to take any major policy decision.

Without fear or favour whatever successes I have been able to make of my life, I owe to the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi who could make man out of dust. I was greatly inspired in my youth by a remark Jawaharlal Nehru had made, ‘Success comes to those that dare and act...’ In fact this remark was my motto in life.

The Speaker is seen, but not heard and the President is neither seen nor heard. He would very much would a President who is neither seen nor heard, but who decides. I would like to do something silently.

He was a true son of the soil and a farmer till his very last breath. His birth took place in a farming community in Illuru in May 1913 of the district of Ananthapuramu, which is also the working place of one of India’s most revered philosophers and former President Dr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnan.

He and a large number of prominent Congress leaders had deserted Indira Gandhi to join the second freedom movement launched by Jayaprakash Narayan on his call for a total revolution.

He applied himself with vigour to the development and modernisation of his State and the progress of its people. He is credited with giving shape to the plans for construction of the Nagarjuna Sagar, the Srisailam Project, the Sriram Sagar and the Vamsadhara projects which are, among the most important milestones in the development of this region. If today, Andhra Pradesh is hailed as the granary of South India, much credit is due to him.

As Speaker of the Lok Sabha he brought glory to the house of the people. He had been one of the most successful speakers of the Lok Sabha. Humour and wit had always been his close friends. And he could tackle all the difficult situations in a very tactful manner. He always tried to act as an independent speaker, even though politically he belonged to the ruling party. i.e. the Congress party.

He combined three different qualities - those of a good party leader, Administrator and parliamentarian. He devoted a major part of his life in Congress Organization and shifted seamlessly from Organisation to Government and vice versa. He had no hesitation in giving up his Chief Ministership in 1960 on being elected President of the Indian National Congress, following Indira Gandhi. He went on to be elected President of the Indian National Congress thrice consecutively at its Bangalore, Bhavnagar and Patna sessions from 1960 to 1962.

The President of India is the constitutional head , who has no policy and programme of his own. It is the Government of the day which chooses the policy and programme to be pursued within the framework of the constitution…[would] protect and defend the Constitution.

His tenure as President was a period of unparelled political turmoil and saw him swear in three governments led by Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Indira Gandhi. He took historic decisions on a number of important issues. By virtue of his long years in public life and close association with leaders from all sections of opinion, he was able to be a steady hand at the wheel of state. His wisdom, friendliness and accessibility endeared him to people belonging to all walks of life. He lent distinction to the highest office of the land by his idealism and patriotism.

Unless the choice was unanimous, he would not throw in the towel.

After he resigned from the post of Speaker in July 1969, to contest the office of the President, he was an official candidate for the Congress Party. But this election created a history on the Indian Political scene. The Congress was split into two; the Congress candidate was defeated by the congress itself and an independent candidate [V.V.Giri] in his place was elected.