Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s younger brother and former MLA Nara Ramamurthy Naidu passed away after prolonged illness at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Saturday.
He was 72 years. He was admitted to the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology a few days ago and his condition deteriorated on Saturday morning and he breathed his last at around 12:45 PM.
Naidu, who is presently in New Delhi to attend various programmes and is scheduled to go to Maharashtra for electioneering, cancelled his programmes and is returning to Hyderabad. He would straightway go to the hospital.
Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh, who was busy with the state assembly session and other programmes, also cancelled his schedule and rushed to Hyderabad.
Ramamurthy Naidu was a very active leader in the TDP in 90’s and had been an MLA from Chandragiri assembly constituency between 1994 and 1999. However, he lost the assembly elections in 1999 in the hands of Galla Aruna Kumari, though Naidu came to power again.
In 2001, Ramamurthy Naidu revolted against his elder brother and made sharp comments against the latter and the TDP. As a result, Naidu suspended his followers.
However, there were reports in October 2003 that Naidu’s mother attempted to bring about a rapprochement between the brothers and even persuaded Ramamurthy to call on Naidu, who had then escaped an assassination attempt by the Naxalites through bomb explosion at Alipiri.
But Ramamurthy Naidu did not do that and in December 2003, he resigned from the TDP and joined the Congress. However, he did not get any recognition in the Congress led by Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, who preferred Galla Aruna to Ramamurthy Naidu.
Subsequently, he returned to his elder brother again in 2006 and Naidu welcomed him into the party. Since then, both the brothers enjoyed good relations, but Ramamurthy Naidu suffered serious ill-health.
His son Nara Rohit is into films and acted as a hero in quite a few films. He got married recently. And whenever Naidu went to Naravaripalli, he would call on his ailing younger brother.