Balli Durgaprasad Rao, Member of Parliament representing the Tirupati (SC) Lok Sabha constituency, died while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Chennai on Wednesday.
Mr. Durgaprasad, 64, a native of Venkatagiri town, was earlier with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and jumped on to the YSR Congress PARty bandwagon just ahead of the elections. Earlier, he had won from the Gudur Assembly seat on TDP ticket. He made eyebrows raise when the YSRCP chose him for Tirupati Parliamentary seat, as he was then considered a total stranger to the temple city, as more than half of the parliamentary constituency spread over to the adjoining SPSR Nellore district.
Braving the odds, he emerged triumphant, thanks to the Jagan wave that was sweeping the state, by defeating his nearest rival and former union minister Panabaka Lakshmi, who had jumped around the same time from the Congress to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Senior politicians from the district, especially from the ruling YSRC, expressed their shock over the demise of the senior politician. Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the family members of Durgaprasad.
