KARIMNAGAR: Former Rajya Sabha member Vodithela Rajeswar Rao (80) died of kidney failure in Hyderabad on Sunday. His mortal remains were brought to his village in the afternoon and he was cremated in the evening. He is survived by two sons and a daughter.
Rao, who hailed from Singapur village of Huzurabad mandal, was popularly known as ‘Singapuram Rajeswar Rao’. His political career began as a sarpanch of his village and later he became the president of the Huzurabad Panchayat Samithi. He was a close confidante of former prime minister PV Narsimha Rao.
He was elected as a member of Legislative Assembly from Huzurabad constituency in 1972 and later as a member of the Legislative Council. Rao was elected as Rajya Sabha member from 1992 to 1998. In 1994, he also became a member of the All India Congress Committee. One of his brothers, Capt V Laxmikantha Rao, is a leader of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Minister for Civil Supplies D Sridhar Babu, Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar, TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, MLAs E Rajender, K Eswar, RTC chairman M Satyanarayana Rao and other prominent leaders from Telangana districts attended the cremation and paid homage to Rajeshwar Rao. Earlier, hundreds of people turned up for his funeral procession.