TDP co-founder Bhaskar Rao’s long journey: NTR’s mentor to coup, dismissal to survival
From a humble leader, Nadendla Bhaskar Rao’s transformation for grabbing power in 1984, when he toppled NTR govt to become CM for 31 days, made him a controversial figure.
Former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh Nadendla Bhaskar Rao. (Wikimedia Commons) Former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Nadendla Bhaskar Rao, who died at the age of 90 in Hyderabad Wednesday, had been one of the most controversial political figures in state politics.
A humble and straightforward leader in the beginning of his political career, Rao became a mentor for popular actor N T Rama Rao or NTR when he was still learning the ropes of politics, and eventually helped NTR found the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). However, his subsequent transformation for grabbing power made him a controversial figure and shocked many. In the latter part of his innings, he returned to the Congress and hobnobbed with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) before joining the BJP in 2019.
Born in Guntur in 1935, Rao completed a law degree from Osmania University before plunging into politics to join the Congress.
In 1978, he won the Assembly election for the first time from the Vijayawada East constituency on a Congress ticket. The promising young leader was inducted into the Marri Chenna Reddy Cabinet as the minister for commercial taxes, excise, and legislative affairs. However, when film star NTR launched a movement for “Telugu pride’’, Rao developed a liking for him and mentored him for a couple of years before helping him establish the TDP.
After NTR swept the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 1983 to come to power, Rao, who won from the Vemuru constituency, was inducted into his Cabinet as the finance minister. A year and half later, Rao and many of his supporters, including several MLAs, became disillusioned with NTR’s leadership.
On August 16, 1984, while NTR was in the US for a heart surgery, Rao staged a coup, claiming the support of both the TDP and the Opposition Congress. It roiled Andhra politics as he emerged as a minister who turned against the CM and his party founder — a mentor who rebelled against his disciple. The then governor Thakur Ram Lal administered the oath of office to Rao as the 11th CM of Andhra Pradesh, setting off a massive political upheaval. The sentiments of people, who had enthusiastically voted in large numbers for NTR and his party, turned against Rao and the governor, which triggered a backlash from the then Congress-ruled Centre.
An angry NTR returned to Hyderabad and immediately launched a state-wide movement to save democracy calling it a “dharma yudh”. Governor Lal was unceremoniously recalled by the Centre. Rao’s 31-day-old government was also dismissed and NTR reinstated as the CM on September 16.
Rao served the shortest-ever term of 31 days for any CM in Andhra Pradesh. Such a
humiliating dismissal under a betrayal cloud would have ended any politician’s career but not Rao’s. He went back to the Congress, and was elected from the Tenali Assembly constituency in 1989. In 1998, he also won from the Khammam Lok Sabha seat on the party’s ticket.
After staying out of public life for several years, he joined the BJP in 2019. Currently, Rao’s eldest son Nadendla Manohar, a JSP MLA from Tenali, is a minister in the Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet in Andhra Pradesh.
TDP chief and CM Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, and Telangana CM and Congress leader A Revanth Reddy, among other leaders cutting across party lines, have condoled the demise of Rao.
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