VIJAYAWADA: Former minister and TDP leader Devineni Rajasekhar alias Nehru passed away due to a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Hyderabad in the early hours of Monday. He was 63. He is survived by a son and a daughter.
A couple of weeks ago, Nehru began undergoing treatment for a kidney ailment at a private hospital in Hyderabad. He was discharged from hospital two days ago and was resting at his Jubilee Hills residence in Hyderabad.
At around 4 am Monday, he complained of chest pain and his family rushed him to a private hospital in Banjara Hills where he was declared dead at around 5 am.
Nehru was a close aide of TDP founder N T Ramarao and sided with the latter during Chandrababu Naidu’s revolt against the then chief minister. He was a five-time MLA from Kankipadu and worked as minister in NTR's regime from 1994 to 1996.
He joined the Congress following the death of NTR in 1999. He was elected as a Congress MLA in 2004, but suffered defeats in 2009 and 2014. Recently, he returned to the TDP along with his son Devineni Avinash.
Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, AP speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, cabinet ministers, APCC chief Raghuveera Reddy and several other leaders from the TDP and Congress, expressed condolences to the Devineni family.
His body will be kept at his Gunadala residence in Vijayawada for visitors. The funeral rites are likely to be held on Tuesday.