TDP leader and member of the Andhra Pradesh assembly Bhuma Nagi Reddy died of cardiac arrest in Kurnool district on Sunday, his family members said.
Bhuma, a former member of Parliament, was 53 and is survived by two daughters and a son.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader suffered cardiac arrest while reading newspapers at his house in Allagadda in Kurnool district in the morning. He was shifted to a hospital in the town and later to another hospital in Nandyal town, where all efforts by the doctors to revive him proved futile.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has condoled the death of Bhuma Nagi Reddy.
A powerful leader of the region, Bhuma quit the YSR Congress Party last year and returned to the TDP along with his daughter Akhila Priya, who is also a member of the assembly from Allagadda.
He had got nationwide attention in 1996 when he had contested from Nandyal Lok Sabha constituency as TDP candidate against then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Bhuma lost the poll with a margin of over 98,000 votes.
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He, however, won the by-election after Narasimha Rao vacated the seat to retain Berhampur in Odisha. Bhuma retained the Lok Sabha seat in 1998 and 1999 elections.
In 2009, Bhuma and his wife Shobha Nagi Reddy quit the TDP to join Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) floated by popular actor Chiranjeevi. He contested from the Nandyal Lok Sabha constituency but finished third.
The couple later joined the YSR Congress party. In 2014, Bhuma was elected from the Nandyal assembly constituency. His wife died in a road accident during the elections. Since the polling was already over in Allagadda, the 41-year-old was declared elected. Later, their daughter Akhila was elected from the same constituency in a by-election.
--IANS
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