Telugu Desam Party (TDP) senior leader and former MP Yadlapati Venkat Rao passed away at his residence in Hyderabad on Monday. He was 103 and had celebrated his birthday recently. He had not been keeping well owing to age-related issues for the past few days.
Mr. Venkat Rao was among the first generation of politicians who had quit a roaring legal career and joined politics. A loyalist of former MP Acharya N.G. Ranga, Venkat Rao was among the tallest leaders from Guntur district. He had served as Minister, Karshak Parishad chairman, TDP district president, Zilla Parishad chairperson and Rajya Sabha member during his long and illustrious political career.
Born at Bodapadu village in Amrathuluru mandal near Tenali on December 16, 1919, Venkat Rao had completed his primary education at Turumilla, and B.A from Andhra Christian College in Guntur before joining the Law College in Chennai. He came back to Tenali in 1945 and started legal practice.
Political career
He entered active politics in 1962 and lost to Kalluri Chandramouli from Vemuru in the Assembly elections held in the same year. Venkat Rao won Assembly elections in 1965. In 1978, he was elevated as a Minister in the Chenna Reddy’s Cabinet, handling law and agriculture portfolios. He had also served as Minister for Agriculture in the Cabinet of T. Anjaiah.
His contribution to the dairy sector was immense. He was elected as the founder president of Sangam Dairy in 1977 and was behind the establishment of Kakani Venkataratnam milk powder factory.
In 1983, Venkat Rao contested on the Congress ticket and lost by a huge margin to Nadendla Bhaskara Rao from Vemuru in the wake of the TDP wave. In 1986, he was made chairman of Karshak Parishad by N.T. Rama Rao, a move which did not go down well within the party. In 1988, Venkat Rao joined the TDP.
In 1995, he was elected chairperson of Zilla Parishad and in 1999, he was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member. Venkat Rao had lived a healthy life at his home in Tenali. The death of his wife in 2021 saw him spending more time at his daughter’s house in Hyderabad.
