Senior Telangana BJP leader and former Karwan MLA Baddam Bal Reddy passed away on Saturday. He was 73.
Reddy, known by the moniker Golconda Lion, had been ailing from cancer for some time. He was admitted to a corporate hospital in Banjara Hills on February 10, and breathed his last on Saturday.
His body was taken to his residence on Road No 12 of Banjara Hills. Family sources said that the BJP leader's cremation would happen at the Mahaprasthanam in Banjara Hills on Sunday evening at 5 pm.
Reddy was a popular BJP leader, and had won the Karwan Assembly seat of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly thrice - in the 1985, 1989 and 1994 Assembly elections. In 2004 he was the target of an assassination attempt by members of a group trained by the ISI. One of the conspirators, Syed Zakir Raheem, was arrested in 2017, while the main accused, Farhat Ullah Ghori, is still a fugitive.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao expressed his grief at the demise of the former MLA. He recalled the services rendered by Reddy in public life, and conveyed his condolences to the members of the bereaved family.
Most top BJP leaders including K Laxman, BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, former union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, BJP leader in the Council N Ramchander Rao, former party leader in the Assembly G Kishan Reddy and several others recalled Bal Reddy's services and expressed grief at his death.