P. Upendra

Parvathaneni Upendra (14 Jul. 1936 – 16 Nov. 2009) was a Telugu Desam Party Union Cabinet Minister from Andhra Pradesh in India.

P. Upendra was born in Pothunuru in West Godavari district and went on to pursue his graduation in Visakhapatnam.^[1]

Considered close to N. T. Rama Rao, he served as Telugu Desam Party general secretary.

P. Upendra was the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha during the prime ministership of Rajiv Gandhi (1984–1989).

P. Upendra was the general secretary of the National Front and was minister for information and broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs in V. P. Singh's cabinet. He oversaw the various parliamentary procedures that were essential to the first coalition government in India. He was also responsible for enacting the Prasar Bharati Act 1990. Together with George Fernandes he attempted to negotiate with RSS chief Madhukar Deoras on the Rath Yathra of L. K. Advani, but this was unsuccessful.

He quit the TDP following differences with N Chandrababu Naidu and joined the Congress in 1994. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vijayawada in 1996 and re-elected in 1998.

He, however, was more or less idle since 1999. He consistently maintained a stance opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party and parties like the TDP under Chandrababu Naidu that had allied with it.^[2] He quit ruling Congress party in November 2008 to join the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) floated by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi. While joining the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), he had said that the Congress leadership did not use his services either at the national level or in the state.^[3]

P. Upendra died in Hyderabad on Monday, 16 November 2009 after a brief illness. He was suffering from kidney related ailment. He was 73 years old. He is survived by wife, three sons and a daughter who is married to industrialist and parliament member from Vijayawada Lagadapati Rajagopal. He was on dialysis for the past five years following a kidney ailment. His condition deteriorated a week before the end which came due to "multiple organ failure." ^[4]

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu, PRP president Chiranjeevi and other leaders mourned his death.

He has written an autobiography titled Gatham Swagatham.

References