Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy ( born May 18, 1913 in the village Illuri, District Anantapur, † June 1, 1996 in Bangalore, Karnataka ) was an Indian politician. He was 1977-1982 president.

The former freedom fighter in 1947 was a member of the Constituent Assembly, the prepared India's independence. He became president of the Indian National Congress. From 1956-1959 and 1962-1964, he was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, 1964/65 Union Minister of Steel and Mines, 1966/67, Union Minister for Transport and Tourism. From 1967 to 1969 he served as Speaker of the House, the Lok Sabha. In July 1977 he was elected to the Indian President.

His presidency Reddy practiced under difficult economic conditions: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had lost the 1977 elections after allegations of corruption. Until then, she ruled with emergency laws. The country was restless, there were economic problems and even food shortages. Morarji Desai Gandhi's successor took over as chairman of an association of opposition parties, the so-called Janata block, the Office of the Prime Minister. In Gandhi's highly successful return to power in 1980, the Sikhs in Punjab threatened to drop by the Union. Therefore, Gandhi favored the politically expedient soon Giani Zail Singh, the 1982 Reddy's successor and the first Sikh in the Indian state president in July.