Telugu Desam Party (TDP) former MP Sabbam Hari died while undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a private hospital in the city on Monday. He is survived by two daughters and a son.
His son Sabbam Venkat told reporters that Hari had breathed his last at 1.22 p.m. He had tested negative for COVID-19, but died of lung infection. The last rites would be performed at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
Born on June 1, 1952, in Visakhapatnam, Hari completed his Intermediate and degree education at Mrs. AVN College, and pursued business activities for sometime before joining Congress in the mid-1980s.
Hari had served as Mayor of Visakhapatnam from 1995 to 2000 and was elected as a member of the 15th Lok Sabha from Anakapalle in 2009 on a Congress ticket. He had distanced himself from active politics after the 2014 elections and joined the TDP before the 2019 elections and contested the Assembly elections unsuccessfully from Bheemunipatnam on a TDP ticket.
Mr. Venkat said that his father wanted to take the jab but couldn’t do so due to election-related activities. Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu and TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu used inquire about his health from time to time.
Condolences pour in
Mr. Venkat thanked all those who stood by his family during the crisis and appealed to people not to attend the funeral in view of the pandemic.
Condolences poured in after the news of his death. Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatreya expressed shock and recalled the contributions of the former Mayor to the development of Vizag.
“Sabbam Hari had brought several issues to my notice during my tenure as the Union Labour Minister,” he said and condoled the bereaved family members.
Former Union Minister and Congress leader T. Subbarami Reddy recalled his three-decade association with the former Mayor and expressed his condolences. Former Rector of Andhra University A. Prasanna Kumar recalled that Sabbam Hari had readily agreed to sanction 2,000 square yards of land at Dwaraka Nagar for the Visakhapatnam Public Library, on the plea of the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).
YSRCP MP V. Vijaya Sai Reddy also expressed grief on the demise of Hari. FDNA general secretary A. Aja Sarma condoled his death.
