Nimmakuru mourns its son of the soil

'Haribabu often used to visit the village'

The sudden death of Nandamuri Harikrishna has come as a blow to the residents of Nimmakuru who said that it would weaken the association of the family of TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao with the village in future.

“Our Haribabu (Harikrishna) knew the name of every elder of the village and used to call everyone by name. He paid more visits to the village than anyone in the NTR family, ” said Koduruvalli Venkataramanamma, a relative.

She lives next to NTR’s house which passed on to Harikrishna after the patriarch’s death.

“Haribabu made it a point to visit the village on every possible occasion,” she said.

On Wednesday, the villagers kept the doors of the house open, enabling the public to have a glimpse of it. Harikrishna visited it a year back, according to the villagers.

Unique bond

A few residents felt that the last rites be performed here, claiming that he had spent much of his life here and married a girl from the place.

“He shared a unique bond with the village, ” said Harikrishna’s secretary T. Ramakrishna Prasad.

Harikrishna was supposed to meet Mr. Ramakrishna Prasad in Vijayawada on Thursday.

Villagers offered floral tributes to the portrait of Harikrishna at the statues of his parents.