Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s father, B N Yugandhar passed away in his residence here on Friday after a brief illness.
Yugandhar (80) was an IAS officer of 1962 batch and had served as planning commission member during Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure as PM, besides working under former PM P V Narsimha Rao. He also acted as director of Lal Bahadur Shastry Nation Academy of Administration.
Yugandhar was suffering from respiratory problems for quite some time, according to his close associate and former Union Home Secretary, K Padmanabhaiah. “We had been friends since 1961. We belong to the same batch of IAS. He was straightforward in putting forth his opinions. A very well respected IAS officer,” Padmanabhaiah said, recalling his association.
Known for his sincerity and simplicity, his junior officers say that Yugandhar didn’t even invite PM PV Narasimha Rao for Satya Nadella’s wedding. But Rao attended the marriage anyway, without any fanfare.
Attached to his native village Bukkapuram in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, Yugandhar said to have initialed several developmental works in his native place Bukkapuram in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Satya Nadella is the only son. Yugandhar’s wife Prabhavathi passed away three years ago. She had served as Sanskrit lecturer in Tirupati and was the daughter of another well-known bureaucrat, K R Venugopal.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao condoled the death B N Yugandhar and conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family, especially Satya Nadella. Former AP Chief Minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu in a statement also conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.