Vijayawada: AP MLC MVVS Murthy, 76, and four others died in a road accident in the USA. Four others were injured in the mishap. The mishap occurred when their car rammed into a truck coming from the opposition direction near Parks Highway. They were on their way to visit a wildlife sanctuary in Alaska.
Velivolu Basava Punnaiah, Veeramachineni Sivaramakrishna and VBR Chowdary were among others, who died in the mishap. Kadiyala Venkataratnam was being treated at a hospital in Alaska for grave injuries. MVVS Murthy was the founder of the GITAM institutions. The university founder had gone to the US to attend an alumnus meet in California. Dr MVVS Murthy was elected to Lok Sabha from Visakhapatnam for two terms from 1991 to 1996 and 1999 to 2004.
Telugu Association of North America (TANA) members are coordinating with the US authorities to bring the TDP leader’s body back to the State. Murthy had joined TDP in 1983 and was close party founder-president late N T Rama Rao. He founded the Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) at Rushikonda near Visakhapatnam, which has now been granted a “deemed to-be university” status with campuses in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. He also served as Chairman of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority from 1987 to 1989.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Ministers K E Krishna Murthy, N China Rajappa, Council Chairman N Md Farook, Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, ministers and MPs condoled Murthy’s death.
In a message, Chandrababu Naidu said, “I was shocked to learn about the death of Murthy. His services as an MP and an MLC are memorable. His death is a deep loss to the field of education and also politics. It is a personal loss to me”. He also expressed his anguish over the death of many TDP leaders in road accidents. Deputy Chief Minister Krishna Murthy recalled that he and Murthy were elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991.”I lost a good friend,” he said.
Ministers, former MP and several others condoled Murthy’s death. (NSS)
