Konijeti Rosaiah, former Andhra Pradesh CM & a man for all seasons, passes away at 88 in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Former chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh and veteran Congress leader Konijeti Rosaiah passed away in Hyderabad on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 88.
He died while being taken to a private hospital after he fell ill on Saturday morning.
Rosaiah was born on July 4, 1933 in Vemuru village of Guntur district. He is survived by wife Sivalakshmi, sons KSN Murthy, Subba Rao and daughter Ramadevi.
Rosaiah's political journey began in 1968 as an MLC.In his five-decade long public life, he was a minister in the cabinets of T Anjaiah, Marri Chenna Reddy, Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy and YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
He also represented Chirala in assembly and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Narasaraopet in Andhra Pradesh in 1999.
He was sworn in as chief minister on September 3, 2009 following the death of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash. Rosaiah continued in the post till November 24, 2010.
The former CM also had the unique distinction of presenting the state budget for a record 16 times under various chief ministers.
T, AP govt declare 3 days state mourning
It was during his tenure as CM in 2009, then UPA government, announced on December 9 that it would start the process of forming a separate Telangana, but rolled back its decision on December 23 following protests by AP leaders and later constituted Sri Krishna Committee. TRS senior leaders recalled that the December 9 announcement was made after Rosaiah held a meeting with opposition parties and said then UPA government took the decision based on the views expressed by the leaders on granting separate statehood for Telangana.
PM Narendra Modi, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Telangana and AP CMs K Chandrasekhar Rao and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Union minister G Kishan Reddy, former governor ESL Narasimhan, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy, ministers KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao and several leaders condoled the death of the veteran leader.
KCR, who visited Rosaiah's house and paid his tributes, recalled that Rosaiah brought laurels to each and every post he held. Telangana and AP governments declared three days of mourning. Senior Congress leader KVP Ramachandra Rao said the body of the veteran leader would be kept at Gandhi Bhavan.Final rites will be held at agriculture fields owned by family at Kompally on Sunday afternoon.