PNS|Kakinada
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Varupula Raja died of a heart attack on Saturday night at a private hospital in Kakinada. The body was shifted to his residence in Prathipadu in the early hours of Sunday.
Varupula Raja was the party observer for the Saluru constituency Graduate MLC elections and he had intensively campaigned along with ex-MLA Bhanj Dev and constituency in-charge Gummadi Sandhya Rani and returned from Salur to Prathipadu on Saturday evening.
Raja suddenly became ill while discussing party affairs with his relatives. Family members rushed him to the Global hospital and later to the Apollo hospital here but died around midnight.
Varupula Raja’s original name was Jogiraju and was born in Pedasi Karlapudi village on August 14, 1976. His grandfather and great grandfather Varupula Jogiraju and Varupula Subba Rao served the Parathipadu constituency as MLAs. Varupula Raja served as Pedasankarlapudi MPTC till 2009 and District youth congress president and later YSRCP district youth wing president.
He served as DCCB chairman in 2011 and later APCOB vice chairman in 2014. Raja contested the Assembly elections on a TDP ticket in 2019 but lost by a slight margin.
TDP national president Chandrababu Naidu rushed from Hyderabad and reached Prathipadu in the afternoon to attend the funeral. Naidu paid homage by placing a wreath on the body of Varupula Raja. Naidu consoled the bereaved family members. Talking to the media he said that the TDP would stand by the family.
Naidu described the sudden demise of Varupula Raja as a shock and a great loss to the party. Several leaders cutting across party barriers have mourned his sudden demise and attended the funeral. TDP leaders including Nara Lokesh and Yenamala Ramakrishunudu also condoled the death of Raja.
YSRCP leaders including former minister Kurasala Kanna Babu, MP Vanga Geeta, and Housing corporation chairman Dorababu also paid homage to the departed TDP leader. Kannababu said that the funeral would be held with state honours.
