What forced former Andhra Pradesh speaker Kodela Sivaprasad Rao to commit suicide?

HYDERABAD: Former Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker and senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Kodela Sivaprasad Rao, on Monday.
The six-time MLA, who was a practicing surgeon till 2000, is survived by his doctor wife, son Siva Rama Krishana, who lives abroad and daughter Vijaya Lakshmi.
While a post mortem examination said that he committed suicide between 9am and 10am, the death led to a political slugfest between the TDP and YSRCP, with Kodela’s nephew, Kantheti Sai, alleging in a police complaint in Guntur, that his uncle may have been murdered at the behest of a family member.

Deputy commissioner of police (west zone) AR Srinivas said a case was registered under section 174 (suspicious death) of Cr.Pc and a detailed investigation was underway. “The family members said that Sivaprasad has been under stress,’’ the DCP said. Police said that they did not find any suicide note, but a clues team had been to the house and collected some materials.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Kodela after having breakfast, went to his bedroom on the first floor of the multi-storied house, saying that he was feeling sleepy. At around 10.30 am, his daughter Vijaya Lakshmi, found his door locked from inside, when she was taking her mother to a hospital for some medical tests.
When Kodela did not respond to repeated knocks, Vijaya Lakshmi peeped into the room through a window and found her father hanging from the ceiling fan. Family members with help from his gunmen broke open the door, and rushed him to the nearby Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer hospital in Banjara Hills, where he is a member of the trust board.
Suicide sparks TDP-YSRCP slugfest
Hospital CEO Dr RV Prabhakara Rao said Kodela was brought to the hospital at 11.35am in an unresponsive state. “Inspite of best efforts of the medical team, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 12.39pm,” the CEO said. It is being strongly suspected that Kodela’s stress was due to political and family disputes.
However, his death took a political turn after both Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu and Kodela’s daughter accused YSRCP’s government as the cause for death, since different cases were registered against Kodela and his family member.
He said the government had tortured Kodela by implicating him in false cases since YS Jaganmohan Reddy took the reins of the state.
Kodela was recently booked by the Andhra cops for allegedly shifting furniture from the assembly to his house in Guntur, which he vehemently denied.
“I asked him not to get depressed with false charges, when he expressed his pain to me. The party stood behind him during the tough times. However, Kodela could not withstand the humiliation caused by the government,” Naidu said.
However, under the TDP-led government, Kodela and his family members were alleged to be collecting ‘K-tax’, or large sums in return for favours. A case was registered by the police, against his daughter for allegedly demanding money, recently.
Kodela, who was known as “Palnadu Tiger” (area comprising Guntur and Prakasam), served as home minister in the NTR cabinet in 1985. He, however, quit following the murder of Kapu warlord Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao.
He subsequently served as irrigation, panchayat raj and rural development minister in the Naidu cabinet. He was the first Speaker of the AP Assembly post-bifurcation.
‘Accidental’ politician Kodela stayed loyal to TDP till his last
Kodela was one of the few leaders in the state who won six terms to the assembly.

He won five successive elections from Narasaraopet assembly constituency and won another term from neighbouring Sattenapalle segment. TDP workers fondly called him as Palnati Puli (Tiger of Palnadu) due to his aggressive style.
Kodela ruled district politics for over three decades since his entry into public life. Born to a poor family in 1947, he dreamt of becoming a doctor in childhood after seeing the death of his siblings and mother.
He went on to realise his dream with the support of his grandfather and father Sanjivaiah. Kodela became a popular surgeon within a few years after starting his own practice in Narasaraopet.
Interestingly, Kodela used to say that his entry into politics was an accident as he wanted to serve people as a medical professional.
After knowing about his popularity among commoners, NTR invited him into the party and fielded him from Narasaraopet which was considered the fortress of former chief minister Kasu Bramhananda Reddy’s family. Kodela did not look back after his victory in the 1983 assembly elections. He also won in 1985, 1989, 1994 and 1999, setting a new record.
NTR made him home minister after seeing his uncompromising attitude against political rivals. However, Kodela had to quit the cabinet following the murder of Kapu leader and MLA Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga, which led to widespread violence across the state in 1989.
With successive victories, Kodela firmed up his grip over party affairs in the district and dictated terms to the leadership. His influence in the selection of candidates in the district was huge as the party had to drop many leaders following his objections.
He single-handedly ran the show in his district even when the party was in opposition between 1989-2004. He was seen leading TDP activists from the front while confronting rival parties.
Narasaraopet constituency used to reverberate with explosion of country-made bombs used by both the groups. A major bomb blast took place at Kodela’s residence when he was PR minister before the 1999 elections.
Five TDP workers, who were allegedly making the bombs, were killed. Though CBI took up the investigation, Kodela got relief when the agency dropped charges and sought closure of the case, citing technical reasons.
Kodela was credited with transforming the temple town of Kotappakonda, famous hill shrine in the state. He took up many projects to make it a tourist hub.
He is also known for chasing officials to complete planned works. He was chiefly responsible for the construction of convention centre Bhuvan Chandra hall, Kodela stadium and ending drinking water woes in the area.
His aggressive attitude made him the darling of party activists while it earned him many rivals within the party. He never had a cordial relationship with senior leaders like Makineni Pedarathaiah, J R Pushparaj and several others. Interestingly, his protegees, Alapati Rajendraprasad and Yarapathineni Srinivasa Rao, too fell apart after Alapati become minister in 1999.
Kodela’s non-cooperation resulted in the party’s near fall in local bodies elections, prompting Naidu to induct him into the cabinet in 2002.
His winning streak came to an end in 2004 when his arch-rival Kasu Krishna Reddy defeated him by a massive margin. Upset with losing another election in 2009, Kodela moved to Sattenapalle and won in 2014.
Surprisingly, there were more controversies after Kodela become the speaker of the assembly. The allegations about interference of his kin in finalization of contracts in both Narasaraopet and Sattenapalle constituencies tarnished the party’s image.
The exposure in assembly furniture diversion case seemed to have badly dented his morale, which may have prompted him to script the end of his journey.
In Video:Former Andhra Pradesh Speaker Kodela Siva Prasad Rao commits suicide