Former Rajya Sabha MP and Telugu actor Nandamuri Harikrishna died in a road accident near Anneparthi in the Nalgonda district of Telangana on Wednesday. The 61-year-old was driving an SUV and was accompanied by two other people.
Harikrishna literally drove his father the late N T Rama Rao (NTR), the founder of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), to victory in the 1983 elections by driving his campaign called “Chaitanya Ratham”, a customised Chevrolet.
Harikrishna, a TDP politburo member, was on his way to Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh in his SUV when the accident occurred around 6.05 am. Locals shifted an unconscious Harikrishna to Kamineni Hospital in Narketpalli where doctors tried to save his life.
According to Nalgonda Superintendent of Police (SP) Ranganath, Harikrishna was not wearing the seat belt at the time of the accident. “He lost control as he turned back to pick up a water bottle,” the SP said.
Eyewitnesses said that the white SUV in which Harikrishna was travelling hit the median and catapulted onto the other side of the road. His body was tossed into the air, causing grievous injuries to his head and torso.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the death of Harikrishna and rushed to Hyderabad in a chopper. NTR’s daughter Purandeswari, his son and actor-cum-politician Balakrishna, Harikrishna’s sons actor Junior NTR and Kalyan Ram brought the mortal remains from Narketpalli to their Mehdipatnam residence in Hyderabad. The funeral will be conducted at Mahaprasthanam Crematorium on Thursday.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao personally offered condolences and has directed the officials to offer state honours to Harikrishna and asked Chief Secretary S K Joshi to consult the family members.
Nalgonda Jinx
Ironically, Harikrishna’s son Janakiram also died in a road accident four years ago on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway in Nalgonda district.
Junior NTR survived a road accident on the same highway near Mothe, while he was returning from election campaign in 2009. TDP leaders Lal Jan Basha and Yerran Naidu also died in road accidents.
Surprisingly, the ill-fated vehicles that took the lives of the father and son had the registration number 2323.
A premonition?
In an undated letter, Harikrishna has urged his family and fans not to waste money on celebrating his 62nd birth day, September 2. He wanted them to instead divert the funds for relief operations in flood-affected areas across the country.