HYDERABAD: In 1983, when NT Rama Rao undertook a whirlwind tour of Andhra Pradesh after launching the Telugu Desam party (TDP), he used a bus, named ‘Chaitanya Ratham’, and the man who drove him around the state was his son Nandamuri Harikrishna who was passionate about driving a four-wheeler. Harikrishna’s passion for driving continued through the years until Wednesday morning when he died in a ghastly accident on road while he was at the wheel.
According to party members, NTR travelled almost 75,000 km in the Chaitanya Ratham, criss-crossing the state in the run-up to 1983 Assembly polls. Rama Rao was very impressed with Harikrishna for driving him around the state in the Chaitanya Ratham for several months without causing even a jerk. Harikrishna was thus aptly called the ‘ratha sarathi’ (charioteer) of NTR.
Harikrishna’s son Janaki Ram also had died in a road accident four years ago. Janaki Ram’s vehicle rammed a tractor near Akupamula crossroads on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway in December 2014 and died immediately. Incidentally, both Janaki Ram’s vehicle and Harikrishna’s vehicle bore the same registration number 2323 though the registration codes and vehicles’ make were different.
Harikrishna’s another son and leading cine actor NTR Jr was injured in a road accident on another highway near Mothe village, near Suryapet, in March 2009. After the first leg of electioneering, NTR Jr took a small break for Ugadi festival and was returning to Hyderabad when the accident took place. In a coincidence, all the three members met with accidents in the same erstwhile Nalgonda district.
Harikrishna, who was very close to NTR, was active in the TDP for some years. He served as transport minister in the Chandrababu Naidu cabinet. After the family coup in TDP, Harikrishna’s relations with Naidu, his brother-in-law, soured.
Levelling serious allegations against Naidu, he left the TDP and floated his own party, Anna TDP. But, the party was routed at the hustings in 1999. Later, he rejoined the TDP and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as TDP MP.
KCR, Guv pay respect
Governor ESL Narasimhan, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and a host of politicians, actors, filmmakers etc visited Harikrishna’s residence and expressed condolences
Chaitanya Ratham for final rites
Chaitanya Ratham, a vintage chevrolet car that was driven by Harikrishna across the state during his father NT Rama Rao’s election campaign, would utilise for final rites of Harikrishna from his residence located Mehdipatnam to Maha Prasthanam in Jubilee Hills
Final rites to be held with state honour: KTR
Minister K T Rama Rao paid tributes to Harikrishna at his residence. He said that the family members have consented to perform final rites at Maha Prasthanam in Jubilee Hills. “Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao directed the Hyderabad Collector, RDO and Hyderabad Police Commissioner to take measures for conducting final rites with state honour. Between 4 pm to 5 pm, final rites will be performed,” KTR said