Former Minister and senior TDP leader J.R. Pushpa Raj, 65, died here on Thursday after a prolonged illness.
He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Pushpa Raj, a three-time MLA from Tadikonda (SC) Assembly segment (1983, 1985, 1999), was among those who had been with the party since joining it in 1982.
He was the one of youngest MLAs in the State after being elected to the Assembly in 1983 and had held several major portfolios in the TDP government.
Pushpa Raj had served as Chairman of AP Federation of Cooperative Spinning Mills in 1984 and twice as Chairman of Committee on Estimates (1985-86). He had also served as Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs, Commerce and Export Promotion (1987-89) and as Chairman of A.P. SC Cooperative Finance Corporation (1995, 1999). In 1999, he was made deputy leader of the TDP Legislature Party.
Welfare hostels
Pushpa Raj had been Minister of Social Welfare during the years 2001-2003 and made a mark by opening welfare hostels across the State. After losing elections in 2004, he continued to be active in the party and served as its vice-president for over a decade.
Three years after the TDP came back to power in 2014, Pushpa Raj was nominated as Chairman of A.P. Food Commission in 2017.
TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and several other senior leaders condoled the death of Pushpa Raj.
