TDP leader Lal Jan Basha dies in accident

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) vice president and former MP S.M. Lal Jan Basha died in a road accident Thursday in Andhra Pradesh. He was 56 and survived by four daughters and a son.

Basha was going to Vijayawada from Hyderabad when the four-wheeler in which he was travelling overturned after hitting a divider at Narketpalli in Nalgonda district, about 80 km from here, police said.

He died on the spot while the driver, who had lost control of the vehicle, was injured.

Basha was the most prominent Muslim leader of TDP and played a key role in the party since it was floated by N.T. Rama Rao in the early 1980s. A businessman, he served the party in various posts including as general secretary.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Guntur in 1991, defeating Congress leader Acharya N.G. Ranga. Basha also served in the Rajya Sabha from 2002 to 2007.

He was a member of various parliamentary committees including those on energy, external affairs and finance.

Basha's death plunged the main opposition party into gloom.

TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, who rushed to Nalgonda, termed his death a huge loss. Leaders cutting across party affiliations condoled the death of Basha.

After an autopsy at a government hospital in Nalgonda, the body was shifted to Guntur where the burial will take place Friday.

Basha is the second senior TDP leader to die in a road accident since November last year when former union minister K. Yerran Naidu was killed in Srikakulam district.