Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister NT Rama Rao’s son dies in road accident

Nandamuri Harikrishna, who suffered severe head injuries, was immediately shifted to Kamineni super speciality hospital at Narketpalli, a few kilometres away, where he breathed his last at around 7.45 am.

Nandamuri Harikrishna, fourth son of legendary Telugu actor and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N T Rama Rao and a former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP, died in a road accident on Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway in Nalgonda district on Wednesday morning.

N Harikrishna was on his way to Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh to attend a marriage. (HT Photo)

According to Nalgonda police, Harikrishna, 61, who was driving at a very high speed, lost control over the vehicle which rammed the road divider at Anaparthi village and hit another vehicle on the other side of the highway before overturning.

The TDP leader, who suffered severe head injuries, was immediately shifted to Kamineni super speciality hospital at Narketpalli, a few kilometres away, where he breathed his last at around 7.45 am.

Harikrishna started off from his Hyderabad residence to Nellore at around 4.30 am in the morning, his family members said.

His brother-in-law and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu left for the hospital in a helicopter along with his son Lokesh, soon after coming to know of the accident.

Harikrishna’s elder son Janakiram was also killed in a similar road accident on the same highway three years ago. Another son Junior NTR, a popular Telugu actor, also met with an accident closer to the same highway while campaigning for the TDP during the 2009 elections.

Though Harikrishna was also an actor, he came into prominence by driving the “Chaitanya Ratham” (campaign vehicle) of his father N Rama Rao during the state-wide tour in 1982, when the TDP was founded. He later became an MLA from Hindupur and was a Rajya Sabha member twice till 2015.