Former Minister Puli Veeranna dead

Hyderabad,Dec 11: Former Minister and a pioneer of Telangana movement,Puli Veeranna died in hospital on Friday afternoon after protracted illness.He was suffering from brain tumour for quite some time now.He was 63.Veeranna had been in active politics for over four decades and represented Mahabubnagar Assembly constituency.He was a Minister for Handlooms in the ministry led by Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy.He also was the Textile Minister during the chief ministership of Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy.Born on July 23,1946,in Mehboonagar,Veeranna was an active student leader.

Veeranna spearheaded the Telangana movement in 1969. He was the first person to raise the Telangana issue in the general body meeting of Osmania University students’ union,held at the Nizam’s College in Hyderabad.He was imprisoned in 1970s for taking part in Telangana agitation.Former chief minister Marri Chenna Reddy rechristened him with the prefix `Puli’ for his role in the Telangana movement.