Veteran Cong (I) leader and Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, Palvai Govardhan Reddy, died of cardiac arrest in Kulu, Himachal Pradesh on Friday morning. He was on his way to attend a Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting, when he suffered a severe heart attack in the car, according to reports.

The octagenarian, five-time MLA is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Palvai was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1967 from Munugodu constitutency in Nalgonda district in the United Andhra Pradesh. He went on to represent it five times, then served two terms as a Council member. He became a member of the Upper House of Parliament in April 2012.

Hailing from Mahabubnagar district, he also held ministerial portfolios in the Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy and Bhavanam Venkat Ram cabinets in the early 1980’s, in a political career spanning nearly 60 years.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed shock over the sudden demise of the RS member. He spoke to Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, who was travelling with Palvai as member of the Standing Committee, and instructed the Chief Secretary to arrange for a chartered flight to bring back his body to Hyderabad.

Recalling his long association with the departed leader, TRS senior leader and Rajya Sabha Member, K Kesava Rao, said he was a kind person who fought for a separate Telangana state right from his student days. TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, several other leaders from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, condoled the death of the senior Congress leader.

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