Hyderabad: Veteran of the Congress and former Minister of Andhra Pradesh, M. Satyanarayana Rao, died early Tuesday in a hospital in Hyderabad, his family members said. He was commonly known as MSR and was 87.
He is survived by wife, two daughters and two sons.
MSR, who also served three terms as a Member of Parliament, tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) on Sunday.
He was kept in the ventilator after his condition became critical. He took his last breath on Tuesday at 3.45am.
Hailing from the town of Vedira in the Karimnagar district, MSR played a key role in the Telangana movement in 1969.
He was elected in 1971 from Lokim of Karimnagar on the ticket of Telangana Praja Samithi.
He was re-elected from the same constituency in 1977 and 1980 as the candidate for the Congress party. MSR, who had a long term as general secretary of the All India Congress Committee during Indira Gandhi’s stewardship, headed the Congress Party in the undivided Andhra Pradesh between 2000 and 2004.
He was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 2004 and joined the YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s cabinet as Minister.
In 2006, he challenged the head of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), K. Chandrasekhar Rao, to resign from his Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat and call for re-election on a separate Telangana issue.
He offered to terminate the ministerial post and membership of the Assembly to challenge Chandrasekhar Rao.
He also stipulated that anyone who loses the ballot box should resign politically and stop talking again about a separate issue of the Telangana state.
After Chandrasekhar Rao accepted the challenge and won the by-election against the Congress party T. Jeevan Reddy by a large majority, MSR kept its word and resigned from the cabinet.
The senior leader has twice served as chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC).
Count. Changrasekhar Rao, Prime Minister of Telangana, mourned the death of Satyanarayana Rao.
He conveyed his condolences to the relatives of the grieving family.
“As a Telangana supporter, MP, minister in the joint state and chairman of the RTC, MSR has shown a special style and is known as a straight man in politics,” the CM recalled. Chandrasekhar Rao instructed General Secretary Somesh Kumar to make arrangements to carry out the cremation of MSR with the official honor.
Andhra Pradesh, YS chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, also expressed sadness over the death of MSR and conveyed his condolences to the grieving family members.
“Sadness over the passing of Sh M.Satyanarayana Rao Garu. “MSR Garu will be remembered for his insightful knowledge of matters concerning the development of Telangana,” tweeted the Congress party’s large sum for Telangana, Manickam Tagore.
Source: The Siasat Daily