VIJAYAWADA: The long and roaring political career of
Kodela
Sivaprasada Rao came to a tragic end when he committed
suicide
at his residence in Hyderabad on Monday.
Kodela was one of the few leaders in the state who won six terms to the assembly.
He won five successive elections from Narasaraopet assembly constituency and won another term from neighbouring Sattenapalle segment.
TDP workers fondly called him as Palnati Puli (Tiger of Palnadu) due to his aggressive style.
Kodela ruled district politics for over three decades since his entry into public life. Born to a poor family in 1947, he dreamt of becoming a doctor in childhood after seeing the death of his siblings and mother.
He went on to realise his dream with the support of his grandfather and father Sanjivaiah. Kodela became a popular surgeon within a few years after starting his own practice in Narasaraopet.
Interestingly, Kodela used to say that his entry into politics was an accident as he wanted to serve people as a medical professional.
After knowing about his popularity among commoners, NTR invited him into the party and fielded him from Narasaraopet which was considered the fortress of former chief minister Kasu Bramhananda Reddy’s family. Kodela did not look back after his victory in the 1983 assembly elections. He also won in 1985, 1989, 1994 and 1999, setting a new record.
NTR made him home minister after seeing his uncompromising attitude against political rivals. However, Kodela had to quit the cabinet following the murder of Kapu leader and MLA Vangaveeti Mohan Ranga, which led to widespread violence across the state in 1989.
With successive victories, Kodela firmed up his grip over party affairs in the district and dictated terms to the leadership. His influence in the selection of candidates in the district was huge as the party had to drop many leaders following his objections.
He single-handedly ran the show in his district even when the party was in opposition between 1989-2004. He was seen leading TDP activists from the front while confronting rival parties.
Narasaraopet constituency used to reverberate with explosion of country-made bombs used by both the groups. A major bomb blast took place at Kodela’s residence when he was PR minister before the 1999 elections.
Five TDP workers, who were allegedly making the bombs, were killed. Though CBI took up the investigation, Kodela got relief when the agency dropped charges and sought closure of the case, citing technical reasons.
Kodela was credited with transforming the temple town of Kotappakonda, famous hill shrine in the state. He took up many projects to make it a tourist hub.
He is also known for chasing officials to complete planned works. He was chiefly responsible for the construction of convention centre Bhuvan Chandra hall, Kodela stadium and ending drinking water woes in the area.
His aggressive attitude made him the darling of party activists while it earned him many rivals within the party. He never had a cordial relationship with senior leaders like Makineni Pedarathaiah, J R Pushparaj and several others. Interestingly, his protegees, Alapati Rajendraprasad and Yarapathineni Srinivasa Rao, too fell apart after Alapati become minister in 1999.
Kodela’s non-cooperation resulted in the party’s near fall in local bodies elections, prompting Naidu to induct him into the cabinet in 2002.
His winning streak came to an end in 2004 when his arch-rival Kasu Krishna Reddy defeated him by a massive margin. Upset with losing another election in 2009, Kodela moved to Sattenapalle and won in 2014.
Surprisingly, there were more controversies after Kodela become the
speaker
of the assembly. The allegations about interference of his kin in finalization of contracts in both Narasaraopet and Sattenapalle constituencies tarnished the party’s image.
The exposure in assembly furniture diversion case seemed to have badly dented his morale, which may have prompted him to script the end of his journey.
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