VIJAYAWADA: History of Vijayawada can never be complete without Devineni Rajaskehar alias Nehru’s factor. He strode the political landscape of the city the way no one else did at least in 1980s and 90s. Both feared and loved, Rajasekhar had carved a niche for himself in the hearts of his followers and admirers.
He died of cardiac arrest in Hyderabad in the early hours of Monday, leaving behind his wife, a son and a daughter. “Driving force for Rajasekhar all through his life has been his idol - N T Rama Rao. When Rama Rao founded the Telugu Desam party in Hyderabad on March 29, 1982, it was a red letter day for Rajasekhar. He organised buses and took youths to Hyderabad to MLA quarters where his hero NTR announced his party,” his associate Gandhi recalls.
Nehru remained an ardent fan of NTR. He was with NTR through his thick and thin, and after his demise in 1996, he stayed with his widow Lakshmi Parvathi for some time and was instrumental in organising a massive public meeting in Vijayawada - Simha Garjana - which in fact had made Chandrababu Naidu uneasy.
When NTR was alive, he had a special bond with him. Regardless of how busy he was, when Nehru came visiting him, he used to receive him and spend time with him. Whenever NTR visited Vijayawada, Nehru used to organise everything for him and send “chepala pulusu” to NTR which the latter used to relish.
Nehru’s personality has been an interesting case study for anyone. He was very aggressive when he was young. In Vijayawada he was feared for a long time, particularly in late 80s, since those days were marked by frequent clashes between Nehru’s followers and those of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga.
In a tragic twist of fate, all the four Devineni brothers are no more now. If it was Devineni Gandhi and Devineni Murali who died in faction feuds much early, his another brother Baji Prasad died of heart attack recently. Interestingly, except Nehru, all the three died before crossing 58 years of age. In fact, recently, as though by premonition, Devineni Nehru had told his friends that it was unusual that he was still alive though he is past 58.
Post the death of Vangaveeti Mohana Rao in 1988, Vijayawada became unipolar and Nehru began acquiring a different personality, that of an affable leader, easily approachable by anyone. He paid attention to anyone who used to go to him with any grievance and to the extent possible tried to solve them.
Whether Nehru was in the TDP or in the Congress, he used to be consulted by the party chiefs on any decision on issues pertaining to Vijayawada and Krishna district.
Post Ranga’s death, Nehru’s transformation into a mass leader became complete as he assiduously built an army of cadres ready to do anything for him. They were with him regardless where he was, TDP or NTR-TDP or Congress and when he went back to TDP recently. That is because he used to be a good listener of the party workers, who takes them into confidence before taking any political decision and going out of the way to help them if any of them were in difficulty.