Mekapati Goutham Reddy

Mekapati Goutham Reddy (2 November 1971 – 21 February 2022) was an Indian businessman[2] and politician from the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was the Minister for Industries, Commerce, and Information Technology in the Government of Andhra Pradesh. He was elected twice and served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly representing the Atmakur Assembly constituency on behalf of YSR Congress Party from 2014 until his death in 2022.

In this Telugu name, the surname is Mekapati.

Mekapati Goutham Reddy
Reddy in 2020
Minister for Industries, Commerce and Information Technology, Government of Andhra Pradesh
In office
19 June 2019 – 21 February 2022
Preceded byNara Lokesh[1]
Succeeded byGudivada Amarnath
Member of Legislative Assembly
Andhra Pradesh
In office
2014 – 21 February 2022
Preceded byAnam Ramanarayana Reddy
ConstituencyAtmakur
Personal details
Born(1971-11-02)2 November 1971
Brahmanapalli, Andhra Pradesh, India
Died21 February 2022(2022-02-21) (aged 50)
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Political partyYSR Congress Party
SpouseSrikeerthi
Children2
ParentMekapati Rajamohan Reddy (father)
EducationM.Sc
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
OccupationBusinessman, politician

As a minister, he made efforts in framing new policies in industrial and IT sectors. He viewed information technology (IT) to be the factor that would transform Andhra Pradesh to be a trillion-dollar economy. He led a delegation team to Dubai Expo 2020 in February 2022 in order to attract investments to the state.

Goutham Reddy died in 2022 due to a sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 50. After his just-returned from the Dubai Expo 2020, he suffered the fatal event, marking a significant loss to Andhra Pradesh political landscape and its industrial sector.[3][4]

Personal life

Mekapati Goutham Reddy was born on 2 November 1971 to Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and Mani Manjari.[5][6] He hailed from Brahmanapalli village in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh.[3] He had two brothers, Prithvi Kumar Reddy and Vikram Reddy. His father, Rajamohan Reddy, was a former Member of Parliament of Nellore Lok Sabha constituency.[7] His paternal uncle, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, is a politician and is the current MLA representing Udayagiri Assembly constituency.[3]

Reddy did his schooling in Good Shepherd International School in Ooty, Tamil Nadu and graduated from Badruka College of Commerce and Arts, Hyderabad.[8] He pursued his Master's degree in Apparel and Textiles during 1994 and 1997 from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.[9] He was married to Srikeerthi and the couple had two children, a son and a daughter. He was tested positive for COVID-19 twice, once in April 2021 and later in January 2022.[6][10]

Business career

Reddy had been managing KMC Constructions since his post-graduation in 1997.[8] He, along with his family, had controlling shares in several companies including KMC Constructions, KMC Road Holdings, KMC Infratech, Guruvayoor Infrastructure, Brindavan Infrastructure, Krishnarjuna Real Estates, Andaman Angling Agency, Pink City Expressway, Rayalaseema Expressway and North Malabar Expressway. These companies operate in road construction, real estate and infrastructure sectors.[7]

Political career

Reddy started his political career in 2014 contesting from the Atmakur constituency on behalf of YSR Congress Party.[11] He won the 2014 election as the MLA against the incumbent Anam Ramanarayana Reddy of Indian National Congress and defeated his closest opponent, GM Kanna Babu, of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with a majority of 31,412 votes polled for him.[6][9]

In 2019 election, he contested again from Atmakur constituency and won as the MLA against his close opponent, Bollineni Krishnaiah of TDP.[9] He declared assets of ₹61 crore (US$7.6 million) in the affidavit submitted for the election.[12] In June 2019, he joined the state government's cabinet and was given the portfolio of Industries, Commerce, and Information Technology.[13][14][15]

In April 2021, his Twitter account was hacked and malicious messages were tweeted.[16]

Minister for Industries, Commerce, and IT (2019–2022)

Policies and investments

During his term as a minister, Reddy was instrumental in framing new policies such as AP Industrial Development Policy 2020-23, YSR EMC Kopparthy Electronics policy, Jagannana YSR Kopparthy Mega Industrial Hub Policy 2020 and AP IT Policy 2021-24.[17] According to Reddy, Andhra Pradesh had attracted investments worth ₹29,780 crore (US$3.7 billion) from 65 large and mega industries between June 2019 and May 2021 during his term.[18] Following the criticism by the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Reddy took to Twitter and shared the details of the investments.[19]

In 2020, Andhra Pradesh retained the top rank in ease of doing business among the Indian states following his initiatives.[20][21]

He invited the Government of Western Australia to explore investment and growth opportunities in the state, while addressing a 2021 virtual summit held with their government officials. He suggested mining, infrastructure, skills development, IT and manufacturing sectors would be the potential areas for collaboration between the two governments.[22]

Dubai Expo 2020

In February 2022, Reddy led the Andhra Pradesh government's delegation in his ministerial capacity at Dubai Expo 2020,[23] where the state government had a stall at India's pavilion.[24] He laid a pitch to the attendance projecting Andhra Pradesh as a resourceful and business-friendly state and established it as a destination for businesses.[25][26] The visit resulted in investment offers worth ₹10,350 crore (US$1.3 billion) to the state and memorandum of understandings with several companies with an intent to invest over ₹5,150 crore (US$640 million).[27]

Views on IT

Reddy envisioned information technology (IT) to empower Andhra Pradesh in becoming an incubation hub and transform the state into a trillion dollar economy.[28] At Dubai Expo 2022, he strived to bring investments into the state in the IT sector.[29]

Death

Reddy died on 21 February 2022 due to a heart attack in Hyderabad, caused by post COVID-19 complications.[30] Despite resuscitation efforts of conducting CPR for more than 90 minutes at Apollo Hospitals in Jubilee Hills, he could not be revived.[11] In the wake of his death, the makers of the movie Bheemla Nayak postponed their pre-release event as a sign of respect.[31] The state government announced a two-day state mourning period.[3] The last rites were performed on 23 February with state honours at Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy Institute of Technology and Science in Udayagiri, Nellore district.[32]

References
  1. Rao, G. v r Subba (2 April 2017). "Chandrababu Naidu's son Nara Lokesh takes oath as Minister". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. "YS Jagan Mohan Reddy gives tickets to co-accused, bizmen". The Economic Times. 15 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  3. Apparasu, Srinivasa Rao (22 February 2022). "Andhra minister Goutham Reddy dies of heart attack". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  4. "Andhra minister Goutham Reddy dies of heart attack". India Today. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  5. "Andhra Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy dead". The Economic Times. 21 February 2022. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  6. Pv, Prasad (21 February 2022). "Mekapati Goutham Reddy: A brief introduction of this non controversial politician". The Hans India. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  7. Malik, Aman (15 May 2014). "The business interests of Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy". Mint. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  8. "Brahamanapalli mourns their beloved leader". The Hindu. 22 February 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  9. "Andhra Pradesh minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy dies due to sudden illness". The New Indian Express. 21 February 2022. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  10. "Andhra Pradesh Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy passes away". The Indian Express. 21 February 2022. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  11. K. Shiva Shankar; Reddy, Ravi (21 February 2022). "Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Goutham Reddy dies of heart attack in Hyderabad". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  12. "35% of Ministers have serious criminal cases, says ADR report". The Hindu. 26 June 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  13. "Andhra Pradesh: Mekapati Goutham Reddy takes charge as IT Minister". ANI. 19 June 2019. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  14. "A.P. balanced welfare and growth, says Mekapati". The Hindu. 9 June 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  15. "Andhra Pradesh Ministers: Portfolios and profiles". 8 June 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  16. V. Raghavendra (10 April 2021). "A.P. Minister Goutham Reddy's Twitter account hacked". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  17. "Goutham strived till last to bring in investments to AP". The Hans India. 22 February 2022.
  18. Dara, Gopi (16 July 2021). "Andhra Pradesh netted Rs 29,780.86 crore investment in 2019-20 | Vijayawada News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  19. "Here is the proof: Andhra Pradesh Minister Mekapati tweets projects' details". The New Indian Express. 10 June 2021.
  20. MN, Samdani (21 February 2022). "Mekapati Goutham Reddy: Andhra Pradesh minister Mekapati Gautham Reddy dies of cardiac arrest". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  21. "Andhra Pradesh retains top spot in ease of doing business 2019 ranking". Livemint. 5 September 2020.
  22. "Explore opportunities in A.P., Minister tells officials of Western Australia". The Hindu. 8 January 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  23. V. Raghavendra (16 February 2022). "Andhra Pradesh government ties up with UAE's national cooling company Tabreed". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  24. "Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy to hardsell AP at EXPO Dubai". The New Indian Express. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  25. Samdani MN (13 February 2022). "Industries minister Mekapati Gautham Reddy makes pitch for Andhra Pradesh at Dubai expo". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  26. "Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy to hardsell AP at EXPO Dubai". The New Indian Express. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  27. Md, Illyas (19 February 2022). "Andhra Pradesh gets Rs 10,350 crore expo investments". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  28. "Andhra Pradesh set to become an incubation hub: Mekapati Goutham Reddy". The Hans India. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  29. "Minister Goutham Reddy woos Abu Dhabi firms to invest in AP". The Hans India. 17 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  30. "Mekapati Goutham Reddy: Andhra Pradesh minister Mekapati Gautham Reddy dies of cardiac arrest | Hyderabad News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  31. "Bheemla Nayak pre-release event postponed as AP Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy passes away". Pinkvilla. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  32. "Thousands bid farewell to Andhra IT Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy". The News Minute. 23 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
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