Former MP Audikesavulu passes away

Former Lok Sabha member and liquor baron D K Audikesavulu Naidu, 72, passed away on Wednesday evening at a private hospital in the City.

He was admitted to the Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre to undergo surgery on the limbs. Sources close to the family said following the surgery, he had developed complications arising out of diabetes and breathed his last around 10 pm on Wednesday.

He leaves behind wife D A Sathyaprabha, two daughters Tejeshwari and Kalpaja and son Srinivas. His mortal remains will be kept at his residence at Rajamahal Vilas till Thursday afternoon.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 and served as a member of Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare and also on the Standing Committee of Coal and Steel in 2007. An industrialist, he owned breweries and distilleries and also owned Vydehi and Mallya Hospitals, in addition to other industries.

Naidu was also a former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Parliament member from Chittoor and also ex-chairman of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD). As Chairman of TTD, Audikeshavulu was  more popular for his project of gold plating the external walls of the sanctum of temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.

The Rs 200-crore project was abandoned after his term as the TTD Chairman, allegedly on advice and protest from archaeologists and Agama pundits.

Audikeshavulu, who was once treasurer of the TDP, was one of the three TDP MPs who shifted loyalty and voted for UPA in the crucial nuclear bill.