Satrucharla Vijaya Rama Raju

Satrucharla Vijaya Rama Raju was born on 4 August 1948 in Chinamerangi, in the then Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. The village now falls in Jiyyammavalasa mandal of Parvathipuram Manyam district. He belonged to the family of the Chinamerangi samsthan, a former zamindari estate centred on Chinamerangi Fort, and was later described in the press as its head (samsthanadheesudu). Some reports give his year of birth as 1949, but Wikipedia and several Telugu outlets give 4 August 1948, which matches his reported age of 78 at death.

He completed his postgraduate studies at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam before entering public life in 1978.

He was first elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1978 from Naguru, a Scheduled Tribe reserved seat, as a Janata Party candidate. He retained Naguru for the Indian National Congress in 1983 and 1985.

He moved to national politics in 1989 and was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from Parvathipuram, winning again in 1991 (10th Lok Sabha). In 1998 he won Parvathipuram for a third time, as a Telugu Desam Party candidate, sitting in the 12th Lok Sabha until 1999.

In 1999 he won Naguru again, but that election was later set aside by the courts (see Controversies). He then won the Parvathipuram Assembly seat for Congress in 2004 and the Pathapatnam seat in Srikakulam district for Congress in 2009.

Under Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy he served as Minister for Forests and Environment. Telugu media report that he later served as Transport Minister in the Konijeti Rosaiah cabinet, and a 2013 television interview introduced him as Minister for Forest, Environment, Science and Technology.

After the bifurcation of the state he joined the TDP in 2014 and acted as its in-charge for Pathapatnam. In 2017 he was elected unopposed to the Legislative Council from the Srikakulam local authorities constituency, serving until 2023. In all, reports credit him with five or six terms as MLA (counts differ because his 1999 election was voided), three terms as MP, two spells as a minister and one term as MLC.

He was married to Rani Sasikala Devi. He kept his home base at Chinamerangi, the seat of his family's former estate, and remained closely identified with the tribal hill areas (Manyam) of Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram and Srikakulam. Details of his children have not been widely reported.

His career crossed party lines, from the Janata Party to Congress, to the TDP, back to Congress and finally to the TDP again. Reports describe a leader who constantly raised constituency issues and had a strong base in the agency (tribal) areas of North Andhra. His combative style in fighting for local issues earned him the nicknames "Uttarandhra Tiger" and "Manyam Puli".

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said his role in the development of North Andhra would be remembered forever. Telugu media wrote that his death closed a long era in Uttarandhra politics. He was remembered as an "Ajatashatru" who stayed on good terms with leaders of every party, and tributes came from the TDP, the YSR Congress Party and other parties.

His 1999 election from Naguru, a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes, was challenged by Nimmaka Jaya Raju, who argued that Vijaya Rama Raju was a Kshatriya and not a member of the Konda Dora tribe. An earlier petition against his 1983 election on the same ground had been dismissed in 1984. On 30 January 2004 the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled that he did not belong to the Konda Dora community, that his community certificate was not valid, and that his 1999 election was void. The Supreme Court of India upheld the decision on 27 October 2005. On 17 October 2016 the Hyderabad High Court, under Justice P. Naveen Rao, directed the Assembly secretary to recover all emoluments he had been paid as Naguru MLA from 1999 to 2004, but declined to order his prosecution.

He had been ill for some time and was receiving treatment at a private hospital in Visakhapatnam, which Times Now Telugu identified as Apollo Hospital. He died there on Thursday, 12 November 2026, aged 78; Times Now Telugu reported the time as 3:44 pm. A specific cause of death has not been made public. His body was moved to Chinamerangi in Parvathipuram Manyam district, where his family said the last rites would be held on Friday, 13 November 2026. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Minister Nara Lokesh and YSR Congress Party president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy were among those who posted condolences.