Andhra Pradesh MLC dies in car accident in US

Amaravati (AP): Veteran Telugu Desam Party leader, educationist and member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council MVVS Murthy died in a road accident in the USA, the party announced here on Wednesday.

He was 76.

He also served as a member of Lok Sabha from Visakhapatnam for two terms from 1991 to 1996 and 1999 to 2004.

Murthy and three others were killed in a car-truck collision on the highway near Alaska in the US, where he had gone to take part in the GITAM Alumni meet on October 6.

The MLC was on his way to a wildlife sanctuary when the accident occurred on Monday afternoon (US time).

Telugu Association of North America members are coordinating with the US authorities to bring the TDP leader's body back to the state.

Murthy had been an active leader of the TDP since 1983 and had a close association with the party's founder-president N T Rama Rao.

He founded the Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) at Rushikonda near Visakhapatnam, which has now been granted a "deemed to-be university" status with campuses in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

He served as Chairman of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority from 1987 to 1989 and lost the 1989 Lok Sabha election.

In 1991, he was elected to Parliament from Visakhapatnam for the first time and again in 1999.