NELLORE: Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the government will shortly complete the works on Sangam barrage in Nellore and name the project after deceased cabinet minister Mekapati Gowtham Reddy.
He said that he is unable to digest the sudden death of his friend and cabinet colleague so early. Chief minister paid tributes to his former cabinet colleague at a commemoration meeting held in Nellore district on Monday.
Addressing the meeting, chief minister said that the government had already decided to convert the MITS college in Atmakur as agriculture college following a request made by former MP and father of Gowtham, Rajamohan Reddy. “We will also consider upgrading the proposed agriculture college into agriculture university. We will bring Veligonda water to the drought hit Atmakur constituency in Nellore district as soon as possible,” chief minister assured.
He said that irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav promised him to complete Sangam barrage works by May 15 and ready it for launch. “We will name the project as “Mekapati Gowtham Sangam Barrage,"as a tribute my former colleague," said chief minister.
He said that he could not come to the terms even a month after Gowtham’s sudden departure as he was so close to his heart. He said that Gowtham played very crucial role in making his father and then Congress MP Rajamohan Reddy Garu to stay with him when he parted ways with the Congress in 2011.
He said that Gowtham would not have entered into politics had he not floated the party. He said that Gowtham agreed to contest the elections only after his behest. “Although, Gowtham is one year senior to me, he used to call me Anna (elder brother).
"I am badly missing his presence in the party and cabinet," said Jagan. He said that Gowtham had served his people with dedication and commitment. He said that Gowtham relentlessly worked to bring industries to AP and succeeded in roping in big-ticket projects. Former MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, ministers Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, Anil Kumar Yadav, MLAs Mekapati Chandrasekhara Reddy, Kakani Goverdhan Reddy, Nallapureddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy, V Varaprasada Rao, Anam Rama Narayana Reddy, K Sridhar Reddy, MPs Adala Prabhakar Reddy, Gurumurthy, Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy and family members of Gowtham Reddy were present.
