A well-known Telugu actor of the sixties and seventies and former Union Minister of State for Defence and External Affairs U. Krishnam Raju died undergoing treatment following a brief illness at AIG Hospital at Gachibowli here around 3.30 a.m. Raju was 83 and survived by his wife and three daughters.
Krishnam Raju was elected to Lok Sabha in 1998 and again in 1999 on a BJP ticket from Kakinada and Narsapur constituencies. Raju was Union Minister of State for four years during A.B. Vajpayee’s last term as Prime Minister from 1999-2004. Raju quit BJP to join the Praja Rajyam party floated by megastar Chiranjeevi in 2009. He contested from the Rajahmundry Parliamentary constituency in the same year but lost. Incidentally, Krishnam Raju and Chiranjeevi hailed from the same village — Mogaltur — in West Godavari district.
