Amaravati: Veteran Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Yadlapati Venkata Rao passed away in Hyderabad early on Monday, due to old age. He was 102 years old. He breathed his last in his daughter’s residence in Hyderabad, where he had been staying for some time now.
Born in Guntur district in 1919, Venkata Rao worked alongside tall political leaders like Acharya N G Ranga, Konijeti Rosaiah and later became a political guru for many upcoming leaders like Alapati Rajendra Prasad, Dhulipalla Narendra and Kamineni Srinivas.
Venkata Rao served as a Congress member of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh from 1967 and also a minister in the Cabinet of late Chief Minister Marri Channa Reddy between 1978 and 1980. He joined the Telugu Desam Party in 1983 and functioned as its farmers’ unit head for many years. In 1995 he became Chairman of Guntur Zilla Parishad and in 1998 became a member of Rajya Sabha. He also served as politburo member of the TDP.
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Venkata Rao founded the Sangam Dairy in Guntur district for the welfare of farmers, which has now developed into a thriving farmers’ cooperative. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu also had a close association with Venkata Rao. He always wore a smile on his face and was widely respected cutting across party lines. Many political leaders including the Vice-President and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu paid homage to departed leader.
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