Srihari Rose from Being a Sarpanch to Minister
Contesting on a Congress ticket, Srihari was elected as MLA in the 2023 Assembly elections. He defeated his opponent, BRS candidate Chittem Rammohan Reddy, by a margin of 17,525 votes. Srihari secured 74,917 votes, accounting for 39.99 per cent of the total vote share.
Nalgonda: Makthal MLA Vakiti Srihari, one of the three newly inducted ministers in the Telangana government following Sunday’s Cabinet expansion, has risen through the ranks, from serving as a sarpanch, to becoming a state minister.
Contesting on a Congress ticket, Srihari was elected as MLA in the 2023 Assembly elections. He defeated his opponent, BRS candidate Chittem Rammohan Reddy, by a margin of 17,525 votes. Srihari secured 74,917 votes, accounting for 39.99 per cent of the total vote share.
At 53, Srihari was the sole Congress candidate from the Mudhiraj community, a Backward Class group, to win in the 2023 Legislative Assembly elections. His representation of the community is seen as a key factor that worked in his favour during the Cabinet expansion.
Hailing from an agricultural family, Srihari has extended family ties with political leaders and strong connections to the Makthal Assembly constituency in Narayanpet district.
Srihari began his political journey as a leader in the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) in the Congress. He was elected as the sarpanch of Makthal major gram panchayat in 2001 and later served as a ZPTC member. From 2022 to 2024, he held the position of District Congress Committee (DCC) president of Narayanpet. In the 2023 elections, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Makthal for the first time.
He also served as a member of the Krishna Jalaala Parirakshana Samithi, advocating for the district’s rightful share of Krishna River water. He actively fought for improved irrigation facilities to benefit farmers in the Makthal region.
During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy promised that Srihari would be inducted into the state Cabinet if the Congress candidate from the Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha constituency secured a victory.
Srihari said that he would do justice to any work that is taken up by him. His behaviour would not change regardless of the position he holds in politics or government and be available to the people. He pledged to work towards resolving irrigation issues in the region and said the Congress gave him the opportunity to do justice to BCs.
