Andhra minister Goutham Reddy dies of heart attack

Andhra Pradesh state industries, commerce and information technology minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy died of sudden heart attack in Hyderabad on Monday morning, hospital authorities said.

He was 50 and is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. His father Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy was a former parliamentarian from Nellore and uncle Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy is a sitting MLA from Udayagiri assembly constituency in the same district.

The minister had been in Dubai since February 11 to take part in Dubai Expo-2020, where he opened Andhra Pradesh pavilion to showcase the state as a potential investment destination. He returned to his Hyderabad residence only on Sunday evening.

A statement from his family said Reddy had attended a wedding reception late in the night and got up as usual at 6 am. “After his routine activities, he was sitting on the second floor of the house, attending a few phone calls. At around 7.12 am, he was feeling uneasy and called his driver Nageshwar Rao. By the time he came, the minister collapsed on his sofa,” the statement said.

Though the driver made an attempt to do cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), he did not recover and was immediately rushed to Apollo Hospitals, which was three km away, the statement said.

A bulletin from the hospital authorities said Reddy was brought to the emergency room at 7.45 am and was unresponsive, not breathing and in cardiac arrest on arrival.

The doctors performed CPR and extended advanced cardiac life support in the emergency department. The emergency medicine team and specialists, including cardiologists and critical care doctors had attended to him.

“The CPR was done for more than 90 minutes. Despite our best efforts he could not be revived. He was declared to have died at 9:16 am,” the doctors said, adding that they were supporting his family to the best extent possible in this difficult time.

YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed deep shock and profound grief over the untimely demise of Goutham Reddy.

Terming Reddy as a young promising leader, who he knew since early days, the chief minister expressed anguish over the tragic incident and said that words fail to describe the loss of his young cabinet colleague.

Jagan, along with his wife Y S Bharathi Reddy flew down from Vijayawada and paid floral tributes to the departed leader at his residence, and consoled the bereaved family members sharing emotional moments.

The Andhra Pradesh government declared a two-day state mourning and said the final rites will be held with full state honours at the minister’s native village Brahmanapalli of Marripadu block in Nellore district on Tuesday, after the arrival of his son, who is studying in the US.

Born on November 2, 1971, Goutham Reddy graduated in commerce from Badruka College in Hyderabad and later pursued his post-graduation in textiles in the United Kingdom. He started his career as an industrialist in 1997 in the construction sector.

Reddy entered politics by joining YSR Congress party in 2014 and contesting the assembly elections from Atmakur assembly constituency in Nellore district. He won the seat twice – in 2014 and 2019. He was inducted into the Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet and given the portfolio of industries, IT and commerce.

Telangana IT and industries minister K T Rama Rao also expressed condolences over the sudden demise of Goutham Reddy. “Deeply saddened and shocked beyond belief to learn about the sudden demise of dear friend @MekapatiGoutham Garu. My heartfelt condolences to the family and friends in this hour of grief. Gone too soon brother. Pray that you rest in peace,” KTR tweeted.

Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan, leader of opposition N Chandrababu Naidu and several ministers and MLAs expressed condolences over the untimely demise of Goutham Reddy.

“Goutham’s demise left me in deep shock. He earned special recognition as a soft-spoken and decent minister. It is immensely sad that a leader with a promising future departed so early,” Naidu remarked.