Veteran Telugu journalist Chakravarthula Raghavachari, who was the former editor of Visalaandhra, a Telugu daily, passed away in Hyderabad in the early hours of Monday. He was 80 years old.
Raghavachari, who hailed from Shatapuram in Warangal district's Palakurthi mandal, was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Hyderabad for a few days now for age-related ailments.
The senior journalist was the editor of Visalaandhra, a paper affiliated to the Communist Party of India (CPI), for several decades. The newspaper was established in the 1950s, with the goal of bringing together Telugu speaking people and form a single state on a linguistic basis.
Raghavachari, a CPI leader himself, had even served as the state President of the All India Students' Federation (AISF) in united Andhra Pradesh, according to media reports.
Telugu Journalism loses a veteran journalist.
— AIR News Hyderabad (@airnews_hyd) October 28, 2019
Senior journalist, ex Editor, Visalandhra daily and communist C #Raghavachari breathes his last in the wee hours today. pic.twitter.com/j6emQDwzjQ
His body was shifted to Makdoom Bhavan in Hyderabad, the state headquarters of the CPI. Several party leaders and workers paid floral tributes to the deceased journalist. The body may later be shifted to the main office of Visalaandhra in Vijayawada for people to pay their last respects.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed his grief over the death.
"Raghavachari believed in value based journalism which reflected in his writings and has been an inspiration to younger generations," the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and Leader of Opposition Chandrababu Naidu also expressed grief at the death.
"Raghavachari was committed for the development of the underprivileged. I pray to god for his soul to rest in peace, and I extend my deepest sympathies to his family," Naidu tweeted.
పాత్రికేయ ప్రముఖులు, విశాలాంధ్ర మాజీ సంపాదకులు శ్రీ చక్రవర్తుల రాఘవాచారిగారి మరణం విచారకరం. బడుగు బలహీనవర్గాల అభ్యున్నతే లక్ష్యంగా నిబద్ధతతో పనిచేశారు. శ్రీ రాఘవాచారి గారి ఆత్మశాంతికై భగవంతుని ప్రార్ధిస్తూ, వారి కుటుంబానికి నా ప్రగాఢ సానుభూతిని తెలుపుతున్నాను. pic.twitter.com/RqvVhhM3bU
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) October 28, 2019
In a separate statement, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also expressed his condolences.