Vijayawada: Former speaker and TDP senior leader Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, who committed suicide, had missed yet another honour in the death.
He was denied the State Honours that are given generally for any former minister or anyone who held some important key position in the government during his or her life time.
The State Honours are given at the time of funeral and the State police pay their last respects to the leader minutes before the last rites are performed.
This was denied to Kodela, who worked as Home Minister for the undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The family members refused to accept the State Honours despite the repeated attempts to convince them.
No doubt, it was denied at the behest of former chief minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu.
The TDP chief had denied the party’s support to Kodela, when the late leader was in crisis. Naidu had also denied a meeting with him on his request in the last days of his life.
Interestingly, Chandrababu Naidu had denied many things for Kodela, who was much senior in the TDP, as he joined the party on the day late NTR gave a call to join the TDP in 1982.
Chandrababu Naidu’s style in using leaders or dispensing with the rivals is a known fact for any political observer.
He uses people when he needs them and throws them out when he doesn’t need or want them. The list will be as long as the survival of the party.
Starting from NTR, he had used and discarded several leaders. The names of Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, Jayaprada, Harikrishna and Junior NTR top this list. Kodela is somewhere in the middle of the list.
Kodela was denied the party ticket for Narasaraopet in 2014 and in the last minute he was sent to Sathenapalli.
Those were the toughest days for Kodela as his name was not cleared till the last minute and his request to retain him in Narasaraopet, was dishonoured.
After the election, he was denied cabinet berth, but reluctantly gave him the Speaker post with a condition to suppress the opposition in the Assembly with iron hand. The five years have gone that way.
When Kodela lost the 2019 election, so is the party, the Palnati Puli had lost access to the leader.
The TDP chief had promoted a section of leaders in Sathenapalli and Narasaraopet against Kodela, who took out rallies against him. He was denied access to the party leaders elsewhere.
When cases are being filed against him and his family after the change of government, he was denied support voice from the party.
When the case of Assembly furniture saw the light, he was further denied access to any of the leader. Against this, Naidu’s mouth piece, Varla Ramaiah, made adverse comments against Kodela.
When the Palanti Puli suffered cardiac arrest and was hospitalised, neither Naidu visited him nor allowed any TDP leader to visit him in the hospital.
Finally, when Kodela sought a few minutes meeting with Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad, a few minutes before he committed suicide, he was denied the opportunity.
However, Chandrababu Naidu had made good of the dead body to revive his party and finally denied the State Honours that Kodela deserved.