Politico Samba Siva Raju passes away

Vizianagaram: Senior politician Penmetsa Samba Siva Raju from Vizianagaram district passed away in the early hours of Monday while undergoing treatment at a corporate hospital in Visakhapatnam. He was 87. Samba Siva Raju is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

The eight-time legislator and former minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh, Raju came from Maoida Viajayarampuram in Nellimarla mandal under Vizianagaram district.

He was one of those rare politicians who never faced any allegations of corruption charges from opponents of any political party and was well known for being on good terms with members of opposition parties.

Raju reportedly fell down while in the bathroom four days ago and was admitted to a hospital. Over the course of his political career, he was the only MLA to have won the assembly elections for eight times in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He was a minister in the Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy cabinet between 1989 an 1994. Raju held portfolios for the road transport and civil supplies departments and was also president of the district Congress committee twice, Pradesh Congress Committee member and All-India Congress Committee member.

Raju was political mentor for Botcha Satyanarayana. His association with the Congress party lasted several years and he joined the YSRC eight years ago.

Samba Siva Raju started his political career in 1958 as Nellimarla Samithi President and was elected as an MLA in 1968 as an independent candidate from Gajapatinagaram. Later, he joined the Congress party.

He was elected eight times from Gajapatinagaram and later from Sativada assembly constituencies. He expected an assembly ticket from Nellimarla constituency in 2019 but did not get the YSRC ticket.