Hyderabad, April 27 : Veteran Congress leader and former Minister M Satyanarayana Rao, popularly known as ‘ MSR’ passed away at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) due to prolonged illness here today.

The 86-year-old MSR, who was admitted in NIMS with illness, breathed his last in the early hours today while undergoing treatment.

Rao was elected to Lok Sabha three times from Karimnagar Constituency under united Andhra Pradesh from 1971-1980 and was elected to the Assembly from Karimnagar segment for the first time in 2004 and became a Minister in Y S Rajasekhara Reddy Cabinet.

He quit as Minister in December 2006 after the Congress had faced a debacle in the Karimnagar Lok Sabha bypoll as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrasekhar Rao retained the seat with a record majority of two lakh votes.

The former Minister had a long stint as an All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary during Indira Gandhi’s stewardship.

The Veteran Congress leader had also served as the Chairman of APSRTC for two times in 1990 and 2007.

He was the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President for three years.(UNI)