Veteran freedom fighter and former Sircilla MLA Chennamaneni Rajeshwara Rao was passed away at 93 in Hyderabad following prolonged illness.  The senior leader, who is the elder brother of present Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, is survived by wife and a son.  Rao hailed from Marpaka village of Vemulawada mandal in Karimnagar district and participated in Telangana’s armed struggle against the Nizam.

• He started his political career as a communist and was elected as a CPI legislator from Sircilla assembly constituency in Karimnagar in 1967, 1978, 1985 and 1994 assembly elections.
• Subsequently, he quit the party and represented TDP from Sircilla seat till 2004 before he took retirement from active politics.
• His only son Ch Ramesh is a TRS MLA from Vemulawada assembly constituency in Karimnagar district.
• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu condoled Rao’s demise and remembered his contribution to Telangana.

Did You Know?

• Hyderabad State was under the rule of Nizams of Hyderabad till 1948, when Sardar Patel used operation Polo to unite India using Indian Army.
• The Hyderabadi Hindi is significantly  different from North Indian Hindi as its an amalgamation of Urdu and Telugu vocabulary.
• Hyderabad is one of the elite cities in India, which has a top business school like Indian School of Business and top technology institutes like  IIT,  IIIT, and BITS.
• Hyderabad is home to some of the most beautiful artificial lakes in the world with lakes such as Hussain Sagar, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar being created by dams on River Musi.