Leaders pay homage to Reddy

Hyderabad, Sep 4 (PTI) The last journey of Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy began from his house in
Begumpet here after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi and a host of party leaders paid homage to
the departed leader.
Apart from the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers including
P Chidambaram, A K Antony, Veerappa Moily, Prithviraj Chouhan
and Chief Ministers Sheila Dixit and Ashok Gehlot met with
Reddy's family members and conveyed their condolences.

The leaders played wreaths on Reddy's body and also wrote
condolence messages at the Chief Minister's camp office in
Begumpet.

Later the body was wrapped in a tri-colour and kept in an
open army truck decorated with flowers for taking it to Gandhi
Bhavan--State Headquarters of Congress in Nampally here as
thousands of mourners chanting Reddy's name followed the
vehicle.

Reddy's son Jagan Mohan, Rajya Sabha member and close
aide of Reddy, K V P Ramchandra Rao and Congress MP Mohammed
Azharuddin were among those who stood near the casket carrying
Reddy's body with hundreds of police personnel surrounding the
truck.
Thousands of people also lined up on both sides of the
road to have a glimpse of their departed leader.
State and Central government offices, shops and commercial
establishments across Andhra Pradesh remained closed in view
of the state mourning announced after Reddy's death in a
chopper crash. PTI VVK
JVN