Former Andhra CM Rosaiah dies at 88

HYDERABAD: Veteran Congress leader and former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh who later served as the governor of Tamil Nadu, Konijeti Rosaiah died on Saturday following a cardiac stroke. The 88-year-old leader is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

According to his family members, Rosaiah experienced a sudden fall in blood pressure in the morning at his Ameerpet residence in Hyderabad before being rushed to Star Hospitals in Banjara Hills, where he was declared brought dead.A bulletin from the hospital said the former chief minister was brought in an unresponsive state and was declared dead at 8.20 am.

Born on July 4, 1933 at Vemuru village of Guntur district, Rosaiah was in politics for over six decades. It started at Hindu College in Guntur district as a student union leader while studying commerce.

A disciple of Swatantra Party leader N G Ranga, Rosaiah later joined the Congress party and was a four-term member of the state legislative council in 1968, 1974, 1980 and 2009 and was twice elected a member of the legislative assembly of the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1989 and 2004 from Chirala assembly constituency in Prakasam district. He was also elected a Member of Parliament (MP) from Narsaraopet parliamentary constituency

K. Rosaiah

in 1998.

As a minister, Rosaiah served many Congress CMs including Marri Channa Reddy in 1978 to YS Rajasekhar Reddy in 2004-09. He held several prominent portfolios but was very popular as the finance minister of YS Rajasekhar Reddy state cabinet.

After the sudden demise of YSR in a helicopter crash on September 2, 2009, he took over as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and held the post till November 4, 2010, when he was replaced by N Kiran Kumar Reddy. It was during his stint as Andhra Pradesh chief minister that the separate Telangana movement reached its peak, forcing the commencement of the process of Telangana state formation.