Vijayawada: The physical attack on polling day, defeat in the Assembly election, police cases against him and his family members, allegations of corruption and lack of support from the Telugu Desam are believed to be the main causes of former AP Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao’s depression, which ended in his alleged suicide on Monday.
After the YSRC government was formed, several police complaints were registered against Rao’s son Sivarama-krishna and daughter Vijayalakshmi, accusing them of collecting money, forcibly occupying land, and cheating by promising to provide government jobs.
He was accused of illegally shifting furniture and computers from the Assembly to his house and his son’s two-wheeler showroom in Guntur. The police cases against his son and daughter and lack of support from his party, reportedly led him to attempt suicide a month ago by taking sle-eping pills.
There were allegations that he supported his son in his wrongdoing, including collecting money for getting work done, which was called the K (Kodela) tax.
He directed people who wanted him to do some work for them, to meet his son Sivaramakris-hna who allegedly collected money from them to get the work done.
Things went from bad to worse when the son started to collect money from TD leaders, who complained to his father and to TD chief N. Chan-drababu Naidu. But wh-en no action was taken.
The resentment in the party peaked during the election campaign when senior TD leaders sat on a hunger fast to ensure that the Sattenpalli Ass-embly ticket did not go to Rao, who they said it would only harm the TD.
Rao tried to get the Narasraopeta Assembly ticket for his son but it was given to Dr Aravind Babu who belonged to the anti-Kodela group.
After he was attacked during the election on April 11 at the Inimetla polling booth, and the public drove him away from the place, he was said to have become depressed. He lamented that he had not experienced this type of attack in the 36 years of his political career.
After the change of government, complaints were filed against him at several places. Rao tried to portray the complaints as being politically motivated, but there was little support for him in his own party.
He held a press conference to defend his shifting of Assembly furniture to his house in Guntur, claiming that it was for the camp office, but the furniture was found in the bike showroom of his son. All these matters apparently led him to take an overdose of sleeping pills a month ago and he was admitted into his son-in-law Dr Manohar’s hospital for treatment. Though he survived that time, on Monday, he was found hanging in his home.
