Hyderabad: Former Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh and ex-Tamil Nadu Governor Konijeti Rosaiah (88) passed away due to illness here today. He is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

Rosaiah breathed his last at around 8 am while being shifted to a private hospital from his residence at Ameerpet after his pulse rate dropped suddenly, according to family sources.

Born in middle-class Hindu Gavara Komati Vaishya family in Vemuru village of Tenali Mandal in Guntur District of AP, Rosaiah graduated from Guntur Hindu College in Commerce.

While he was studying at Zilla Parishad High School in Guntur, he was elected as the student leader. He later entered politics.

The former CM, who was a political disciple of Swatantra Party leader and independence activist N.G. Ranga, was elected as MLC in 1968, 1974, 1980 and 2009 and as an MLA in 1989 and 2004 from Chirala Assembly Constituency in AP on Indian National Congress ticket.

In 1998, he was elected as MP from Narasaraopet Lok Sabha Constituency. During his long political career, he interacted and worked closely with most of the Prime Ministers of India, including Jawaharlal Nehru.

Rosaiah became Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh and held the post from September 2009 to 2010 following the tragic death of late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

He had also served as the Governor of Karnataka for two months and the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2016.

After completion of his five-year term as Governor of Tamil Nadu, he took retirement from active politics. He handled many Ministerial posts in his long political career spanning over 50 years.