Veteran Congress leader and MLC Paladugu Venkata Rao passed away in the early hours of Monday. The 75 year old Congress leader is heard to ailing from some time at a private hospital and in the wee hours, he breathed his last. Paladugu's body will be shifted to Nuzvid this afternoon and his last rites will be performed on Wednesday.

Mr. Paladugu was born on November 11, 1940 in Krishna district. He became active in politics since 1968 and made his electoral debut as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Nuzvid constituency in 1978. Paladugu also serve as Minister for Rural Water Supply [1980-82], Agriculture Minister [1982] and Marketing Minister [1982-83]. He was elected as MLC from the Assembly quota in 2009 and was re-elected in 2011. His tenure would be ending in 2017.

- TVR