Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the sixth President of India. He held the office from 1977 to 1982. He was a veteran statesman and administrator. He was also the first to be elected unopposed.
Reddy was 64 when he was elected as the youngest President of India. He proved his humbleness through two notable gestures; one was him renouncing the residency at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the other was him allowing a 70 per cent cut in his salary, considering the poor economic condition of the nation in 1977.
Besides being the President of India, he held many eminent positions in public life, both before, and after independence. Reddy served as Union Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation, and Shipping and Tourism, from January 1966 to March 1967 in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Hindupur constituency in Andhra Pradesh. He was chosen as the speaker of the Lok Sabha on March 17th, 1967. This won him immense recognition. He served his term with such dedication and passion that he is remembered as the best ever Lok Sabha speaker.
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