Two-time Vizag MLA Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao dies of COVID

Vijayawada: Former VMRDA chairman and two-time Vizag MLA Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao (59) died of Covid- in a private hospital in Vizag city on Sunday.

The YSR Congress Party leader Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao was undergoing treatment for the Covid-19 related complications for the last two weeks, he succumbed on Sunday.

"After availing the initial home isolation facility, he was shifted to the private hospital at Health City area in Vizag city. Even after trying all the advanced treatment options, Srinivasa Rao succumbed to the complications on Sunday. YSR Congress Party leaders were closely monitoring the treatment and progress of Srinivasa Rao since he was hospitalised" his family members said.

Born in a family that was loyal to Congress and served the Congress party for several decades, Dronamraju shifted his loyalties to YSR Congress Party just before the elections in 2019. He unsuccessfully contested from Vizag South MLA constituency in 2019. However, the YSRCP made him the first chairman of the VMRDA, which replaced the erstwhile Visakhapatnam Urban development Authority (VUDA) by adding about 1,000 square kilometre area in 2018.

Incidentally, Srinivasa Rao’s father – Dronamraju Satyanarayana - was the first chairman of the VUDA, from 1978 to 1981, after it was upgraded from the Town Planning Trust in 1978

Srinivasa Rao’s father has emerged as massive leader in Vizag city while Srinivasa Rao was popular for his cool charm and accessible to the people. Rao’s son is a software engineer. With the death of Rao, people in Vizag lost a good leader.