One of the most prominent leaders of the anti-Nizam Telangana armed struggle, a freedom fighter and a 6-time MLA Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao passed away on Monday after prolonged illness. He was 93.
Chennamaneni breathed his last at Yashoda Hospital at Somajiguda at 4 am, family sources said. He is survived by three daughters and a son.
Chennamaneni hailed from Marupaka village under the Vemulawada mandal of the Karimnagar district. A fighter for causes all through, he actively participated in the "Quit India Movement", in the Telangana armed struggle against the Nizam of Hyderabad, and in the movements for a separate Telangana. He had even gone underground along with other leaders while fighting the Nizam's army.
An active politician, Chennamaneni started his political career as a Communist, and entered the Assembly through Choppadandi for the first time in 1957. He was elected as a CPI MLA from the Sircilla Assembly constituency in Karimnagar in the 1967, 1978, 1985 and 1994 Assembly elections, and changed to the TDP in 1999. He was a member of the undivided Andhra Pradesh Assembly for five terms from Sircilla and once from Choppadandi.
When the movement for a separate Telangana state intensified, Chennamaneni joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), but retired from active politics in 2004. His son Chennamaneni Ramesh is a member of the Telangana Assembly. Maharashtra Governor Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao and economist Chennamaneni Hanumantha Rao are his brothers.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu and leaders of various political parties condoled the death of Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao.