Freedom fighter, ex-MP Battam Srirama Murthy dead

VISAKHAPATNAM: Freedom fighter, scholar and one of the last of the old guard of politicians from north coastal AP, Battam Srirama Murthy, passed away due to a prolonged illness at the age of 89 at a city hospital. Battam, a native of Dharmavaram village near Vizianagaram, started his career as a student’s union leader of M R College, Vizianagaram.
Later, he joined the Socialist Party and was one of the key members of the party along with the Raja Sahib of Vizianagaram, PVG Raju and Tenneti Viswanadha.However, Srirama Murthy associated himself with the Congress and served for 16 years as member of the All India Congress Committee.
He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly as Vizianagaram MLA in 1962 and later served as minister of education, social welfare and culture in various Congress governments in AP from 1972 to 1981. In 1972, he was elected from Parawada assembly constituency and worked as minister with former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao when the latter was the CM of AP.
In 1984, Srirama Murthy joined TDP and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vizag. Incidentally, he was among the last of native politicians to have represented the district in the LS. He also authored an autobiography ‘Swecha Bharat’ that was published in 2009.