TDP leader, Muddukrishnama Naidu

Senior leader of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and former Andhra Pradesh Minister Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu died following brief illness, his family said. He was 71.

Naidu, a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, breathed his last at a private hospital here late on Tuesday. He is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter.

Hailing from Chittoor district in the Rayalaseema region, he was associated with the TDP since its formation by actor-turned-politician N.T. Rama Rao in 1982.

He was elected to the state legislative assembly for a record six times from Puttur constituency in the same district.

Naidu served as Minister in N.T. Rama Rao’s cabinets in 1984, 1987 and 1994 and held Education and Forest portfolios.

He remained loyal to Rama Rao when the latter’s son-in-law N.Chandrababu Naidu led a revolt and became Chief Minister in 1995.

After Rama Rao’s death, Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu remained in NTR TDP floated by Rama Rao’s widow Lakshmi Parvathi.

In 2004, he joined the Congress party and was elected to the state assembly on a Congress ticket.

He returned to the TDP in 2008 and the next year he was elected from newly created assembly constituency Nagari. He, however, lost 2014 elections from the same constituency.

He was subsequently made a member of the Legislative Council.

Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu was sulking after he was ignored by Chief Minister Naidu during the cabinet expansion in 2017.

The Chief Minister, who is also the TDP president, condoled the death of the senior leader. He said the departed leader played a key role in the TDP and his demise “has shocked him”.

Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu’s body will be shifted to Puttur town, where the last rites were likely to be performed on Thursday.