Hyderabad: Six ministers were inducted in the K. Chandrasekhar Rao cabinet on Sunday. Three of them are first-timers.
T. Harish Rao, Finance Minister: Termed a mass leader, Harish Rao, who was the irrigation minister in the previous government, was given the portfolio of minister of finance on Sunday. He has been a member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly since 2004 representing Siddipet.
Between 2014 and 2018, he served as the minister for irrigation, marketing and legislative affairs in the state. In the 2018 elections, Harish Rao won from the same constituency with the highest majority of more than 1.18 lakh votes. He was a minister in the Congress government in the undivided state. He is an excellent organiser and a trouble-shooter for the TRS in the elections. He graduated from Kakatiya University.
K.T. Rama Rao, IT, municipal administration, industries minister: Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao is the working president of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
He had been minister of IT and municipal affairs from 2014 to 2018 in the first Telangana state cabinet.
In 2006, when his father Chandrasekhar Rao resigned from the United Progressive Alliance and intensified the statehood agitation, Mr Rama Rao resigned from his job to join the TRS and began campaigning for his father who contested the Karimnagar Lok Sabha by-election that year.
Mr Rama Rao began his political career in 2009 and contested from Sircilla and won. He won again in 2014 and 2018.
He did Intermediate from Vignan Junior College at Vadlamudi, Guntur, and did his BSc in microbiology, chemistry, botany from Osmania University.
He holds two post-graduate degrees —MSc in Bio-Technology from the University of Pune and MBA in marketing and ecommerce from City University of New York.
Sabitha Indra Reddy, Education Minister: Sabitha Indra Reddy was elected from Maheshwaram constituency in 2018 on a Congress ticket but recently joined the TRS.
She was the first woman home minister of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state, chosen for the job by the late CM Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. She was married to the late P Indra Reddy who was home minister in the N.T. Rama Rao cabinet. She entered politics after his demise in a road accident. During the initial years, her husband’s position as a popular leader helped her but in course of time she made a name for herself.
Puvvada Ajay Kumar, Transport Minister: A first-time minister, Puvvada Ajay Kumar won the Khammam assembly seat for the TRS in 2018. He had been elected MLA from the same constituency in 2014 when he was in the Congress party.
His family background of being the son of CPI national leaders Puvvada Nageswara Rao and Vijaya Lakshmi helped him in his political career. He was born on April 19, 1965, studied in Khammam till Intermed-iate and then graduated from a college in Hyderabad.
A gold medallist in MSc (Agriculture), he took charge of Mamata Hospital and Mamata Medical College as chairman. He continued in that post in the medical college even after being elected MLA.He began his political career with the YSR Congress in 2012 and was party district president. In 2013, he resigned from the party and joined the Congress. In 2016, he left the Congress and joined the TRS.
Gangula Kamalakar, BC Welfare, Civil Supplies Minister: First timer Gangula Kamalakar started his political career as a corporator and later won twice from Karimnagar Assembly constituency, in 2014 and 2018. He is the fourth person from Karimnagar district to be given a ministerial berth, the other three being KTR, Etala Rajender and Koppula Ishwar.
In 2009, Kamalakar won the Karimnagar assembly seat contesting on a Telugu Desam ticket. In 2014, he shifted to the TRS party.
Satyavati Rathod, Tribal Welfare, Women and Children Welfare Minister: Debutant minister Satyavati Rathod joined the Telugu Desam in 1984 and was made sarpanch. In 2009 she contested the Dornakal (ST) assembly seat in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state and won. After bifurcation in 2014 she switched to the TRS.
