Senior Congress leader and former minister Juvvadi Ratnakar Rao breathed his last at Karimnagar this morning.
He was 93 years old.
He had been suffering from age-related ailments for a long time.
Rao was a native of Timmapur village of Dharmapuri mandal. He is survived by two sons - Krishna Rao and Narsing Rao.
The veteran leader began his political career as a village sarpanch. He unsuccessfully contested for the Jagitiyal MLA seat in 1983 for the first time.
He won the Buggaram assembly constituency seat as an independent candidate in 1989, and continued as an associate member of the Congress.
Rao won the same MLA seat again in the years 1999 and 2004, and worked as the then united AP's endowments minister in Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's cabinet.
Rao lost the election for the Korutla MLA seat in 2009.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao expressed his condolences over the death of Ratnakar Rao, and issued orders to the Chief Secretary of the state Somesh Kumar to take steps for holding his last rites with full state honours.
Ministers from Karimnagar Koppula Eeswar and Gangula Kamalakar visited the house of Rao and paid tributes.
TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former MP Ponnam Prabhakar, MLC T Jeevan Reddy, former PCC President Ponnala Lakshmaiah and others too expressed their condolences.
The Congress announced that PCC spokesperson Mahesh Kumar Goud would attend the funeral ceremony of Rao as the representative of the TPCC.