AP Industries Minister dies young

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Industries, Commerce, IT and Skill Development Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy (50) died of heart attack at a corporate hospital in Hyderabad on Monday.

He was on a weeklong trip to Dubai in connection with the Expo 2020 Dubai. He played a key role in opening the Andhra Pradesh floor at India Pavilion and signing MoUs worth over Rs 5,000 crore and interest to invest another Rs 10,000-odd crore. He returned from Dubai on Sunday, attended a function and returned home by 9.45 pm at night. He had a heart attack in the morning 7.15 am on Monday at his residence in Hyderabad and he was immediately taken to Apollo Hospitals at Jubilee Hills.

"Gautham Reddy was brought to our hospital in an emergency at 7.45 am and was unresponsive, not breathing and in cardiac arrest. He received immediate CPR and advanced cardiac life support in our emergency department. The emergency medicine team and specialists including cardiologists and critical care doctors have attended to him," Apollo Hospitals said in a statement.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was done for more than 90 minutes. Despite our best efforts he could not be revived. He was declared to have died at 9.16 am, it added. The minister is survived by wife, a son and a daughter. He was a close confidant of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

AP government has declared a two-day State mourning. The final rites will be performed in SPS Nellore district with full State honours, the Chief Minister's Office said. After paying tributes to the departed leader at his residence in Hyderabad, Jagan Mohan Reddy along with wife Bharati Reddy expressed profound grief over the tragic end of the leader. "I have lost a promising leader, dynamic minister and a very close friend," the Chief Minister remarked.

Besides politicians from various parties, Leader of Opposition and TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu also expressed his shock at the sudden demise of Goutham Reddy and conveyed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Meanwhile, there were several rumours on social media about the cause of Goutham Reddy's demise. A section of people say that he died due to post-Covid complications as he was tested positive twice, once in April 2021 and recently in January 2022.

There were also some posts claiming uneasiness at home workout before his death similar to Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar who had a heart attack at a gym last October. However, the minister's family members denied such comments and released detailed timeline of his activities on Monday morning.