Bengaluru (Karnataka): TDP leader and Tollywood actor Nandamuri Taraka Ratna on Saturday died 23 days after he suffered a heart attack during the inauguration of 'Yuvagalam Padayatra' of party national general secretary Nara Lokesh. Taraka Ratna passed while taking treatment on ventilator at a private hospital in Bengaluru city. He was 40 and is survived by wife Alekhya Reddy and a child.
The Telugu film industry expressed shock and grief over the untimely death of Taraka Ratna, who is a grandson of yesteryears star and former chief minister N T Rama Rao. He is a cousin of Tollywood's star actor Jr NTR and Kalyan Ram. Taraka Ratna suffered cardiac arrest while taking part in Nara Lokesh's padayatra at Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh.
Kuppam assembly constituency is being represented by TDP National President and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for a long time. From this place, Nara Lokesh planned the inauguration of his state-wide padayatra. As per sources, Taraka Ratna had been suffering from several health issues prior to the fatal heart attack.
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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and political leaders cutting across party affiliations expressed their condolences to the bereaved family members. Tollywood actors K Chiranjeevi, Allu Arjun and others expressed shock over the death of Taraka Ratna.
On January 27, Taraka Ratna fainted suddenly when he was among a huge crowd that gathered for the inauguration of TDP’s ‘Yuvagalam’. Yuvagalam was initiated by Nara Lokesh, the son of former CM Chandrababu Naidu. Taraka Ratna was then rushed to a local hospital from where he was referred to Bangalore’s Narayana Hrudayalaya for better treatment. After 25 days of treatment, he suffered another heart attack from which he could not recover.
Born in Hyderabad on February 23, 1983, Taraka Ratna had love marriage with Alekhya Reddy in 2012. At the age of 20, he entered the cinema world by acting in 'Okato Number Kurradu'. He played the protagonist in films - 'Yuva Ratna', 'Bhadradi Ramudu', 'Amaravati' and 'Nandeeswarudu'. He also acted in web series '9 hours'. Taraka Ratna used to take an active part in election campaigns of the TDP.
