BRS leader Jitta Balakrishna Reddy no more

Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader and separate Statehood activist Jitta Balakrishna Reddy passed away on Friday (September 06, 2024).
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader and 52-year-old separate Statehood activist Jitta Balakrishna Reddy breathed his last on Friday (September 06, 2024).

Mr. Reddy, who was ailing for sometime was admitted into Yashoda Hospital, Secunderabad with brain related ailment last month. He was undergoing treatment for infection and developed multiple organ complications and was put on ventilator support. As his condition deteriorated, the family members were briefed about the situation, according to hospital sources.

The BRS leader’s family decided to shift him back to his residence in Bhongir this morning. He passed away a little while being taken in an ambulance to Bhongir. His last rites will be performed at his farm house in Bhongir. A large number of people paid their tributes to the late leader as the mortal remains reached the town this afternoon. Congress MLA K. Anil Kumar Reddy and other local Congress and BRS leaders offered floral tributes to the leader.

Mr. Reddy shot to fame when he led the State Youth Federation as its founder president. He joined the TRS (now BRS) party after it was formed and then shifted his alliance to the Congress party after he was denied ticket in 2009 election.

After Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s death, he moved over to the YSR Congress Party but quit the party after its president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy took a stand to back united Andhra Pradesh. The late leader then floated Yuva Telangana Party and contested the elections and later merged it with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Ahead of the 2023 elections, Mr. Reddy had joined the Congress in the presence of senior leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy but quit the party and joined the BRS after a gap of 14 years. He was in the race for Bhongir parliament ticket in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and former Chief Minister and BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao condoled the death of Mr. Balakrishna Reddy. They recalled his leadership qualities and how he had created a niche for himself among the youth through dedicated and selfless service.