Nandamuri Harikrishna Dies In Tragic Road Accident

Nandamuri Harikrishna, actor and son of TDP founder late N T Rama Rao, died in a road accident near Nalgonda on Wednesday morning.

The mishap occurred while he was on his way in a car to attend a wedding in the family of one of his supporters and fans in Kavali of Nellore district. The SUV, which he was driving himself, was stated to be proceeding at a high speed (approximately 150 kmph), and, in an attempt to miss hitting another oncoming vehicle, swerved to the right and turned turtle after hitting a road divider.

According to Nalgonda Superintendent of Police A V Ranganath, the maverick actor-politician was not wearing a seat belt. As a result he received a severe impact from the steering wheel and was thrown out of the vehicle which had gotten thrust about 20 m into the air due to the accident. He sustained severe head injuries and was rushed to Kamineni Hospital in Narketapply. All the efforts by the doctors to save the profusely bleeding actor proved futile, and he passed away.

Two others in the car sustained injuries in the accident - one had a leg fracture and the other received minor bruises.

The accident occurred at Narketpally village in Nalgonda district.

Born in Nimmakuru of Krishna district on September 2, 1956, Harikrishna was to celebrate his 62nd birthday in four days. The third son of late NTR and Basavatarakam, he is the brother-in-law of AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who married his younger sister Bhuvaneshwari. His elder sister D Purandeshwari was a union minister in the UPA government and later joined the BJP.

Harikrishna came into the limelight when he drove the campaign vehicle, Chaitanya Ratham, of NTR when the latter launched the TDP in 1983 and toured the entire undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Harikrishna also earned notoriety as a rebel in the TDP, and his political career in the party saw many ups and downs. When Chandrababu Naidu dethroned NTR and took over the reins of the party, Harikrishna supported his brother-in-law initially and secured a berth in Naidu's cabinet from 1996 to 1999. However he crossed swords with Naidu then and floated his own political party "Anna TDP" on January 2, 1999. His party contested the 1999 elections and could not win a single seat.

Harikrishna's brother Balakrishna, a popular actor, always sided with Chandrababu Naidu. In fact Balakrishna's daughter Brahmani is married to Lokesh Naidu, the son of Chandrababu Naidu. Balakrishna is now an MLA in Andhra Pradesh while Lokesh is a minister in Naidu's cabinet.

Harikrishna's family appears to be prone to accidents, and in the same Nalgonda district. Harikrishna's son Jr. NTR was involved in a road accident in the district while returning from an election rally in 2009, and narrowly escaped with injuries. Another son Nandamuri Janakiram too was involved in a road accident near Kodada in the district in 2014, and died.

The sudden demise of Harikrishna has shocked all sections in the political and film fields. On receipt of the tragic mishap both Harikrishna's living sons Jr. NTR and Kalyan Ram rushed to Kamineni Hospital in Narkepally. Even Chandrababu Naidu and Lokesh Naidu cancelled all engagements in AP and rushed in a helicopter to the hospital. They all then accompanied the ambulance in which Harikrishna's body was brought to the city.