Hyderabad, March 17: Senior Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Koneru Ranga Rao died today while undergoing treatment for pneumonia at Apollo Hospital.
Funeral will take place at his native place Gudavalli village in Krishna district tomorrow at 4 p.m. The 74-year old was survived by two sons and two daughters.
Several political leaders who included Chief Minister K Rosaiah, Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, PCC chief D Srinivas, ministers S Vijayarama Raju, P Vishwarup, D Manikya Vara Prasad, Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy were among those who paid condolences to Koneru. They recalled services of the late leader for the State particularly the weaker sections.
According to family members, the body would be taken to Gudavalli village tonight and the funeral will take place tomorrow at 4 p.m.
Koneru was born at Gudavalli village in Krishna district on June 26, 1935 and entered politics in 1955. He was in the Congress Party for the last four decades.
He got elected to the State Assembly from Kankipadu segment in 1978. Later, he contested from the reserved Tiruvur Assembly constituency and got elected for four consecutive terms i.e. 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004.
Before entering the State Assembly, he served as a sarpanch in Gudavalli village for 20 years (from 1958 to 1978).
The late leader who quit active politics in 2009, had worked as Deputy Chief Minister in the Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy Cabinet. He worked as a minister in the cabinets of four Chief Ministers – YS Rajasekhara Reddy, T Anjaiah, Marri Chenna Reddy and Bhavanam Venkatram.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah, in a condolence message, termed the death as a great loss to the State. He said the senior leader had strived hard for uplift of weaker sections. Opposition leader in the State Assembly and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu urged the Government for implementation of recommendations made by Koneru Ranga Rao Committee on land distribution with sincerity.
PRP president K Chiranjeevi opined that implementation of recommendations of Koneru Ranga Rao Committee in toto would only result in paying real tributes to the late leader.
CPI leader K Narayana, CPM leader BV Raghavulu, LSP president Jayaprakash Narayan, All-India Kisan Sabha vice-president Kolli Nageshwara Rao and others recalled his services for the uplift of Dalits and other weaker sections of the society.
–Agencies–