Health Minister Danam Nagender and Mayor Banda Kartika Reddy on Saturday offered floral tributes to former chief minister Jalagam Vengal Rao, on the occasion of his 11th death anniversary.
Vengal Rao is best remembered for using a pragmatic approach to control the rising Maoist menace, and for his contribution to the education sector.
He is credited with adopting a humane approach and rehabilitating the families of slain Naxalites, while being firm with the Naxals themselves.
He also tried to break the police-Naxal nexus by replacing local police officials with those from other areas so that they could not be swayed by regional bias.
Vengal Rao's tenure as chief minister also saw the coming into existence of 3 major universities - Kakatiya University, Acharya Nagarjuna University and Sri Krishnadevaraya University.
He also organised the World Telugu Conference in the city in 1975.
Hailing from Buyannagudem in Khammam district, Vengal Rao was chief minister of the state from 10 December 1973 to 6 March 1978. He died on 12 June 1999.