Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao
కల్వకుంట్ల చంద్రశేఖర రావు
1st Chief Minister of Telangana
Assumed office
2 June 2014
Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan
Preceded by Office Established
Minister of Labour and Employment
In office
22 May 2004 – 22 May 2006
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Deputy Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office
1999–2001
Minister of Transport, Andhra Pradesh
In office
1996–1999
Minister of Drought & Relief, Andhra Pradesh
In office
1987–1988
Member of Parliament
In office
2009–2014
Constituency Mahbubnagar, Telangana
In office
2004–2009
Constituency Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh
(now in Telangana)
Member of the Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
2014
Constituency Gajwel, Telangana State
In office
1985–2004
Constituency Siddipet, Andhra Pradesh
(now in Telangana)
Personal details
Born (1954-02-17) 17 February 1954
Siddipet, Hyderabad State, India
(now in Telangana, India)
Nationality Indian
Political party Telangana Rashtra Samithi
Spouse(s) K. Shobha
Children K. T. Rama Rao
K. Kavitha
Residence Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Alma mater Osmania University
Religion Hinduism

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (born 17 Feb 1954), better known and abbreviated as KCR,[1][2][3][4] is the first and the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Telangana. Mr Chandrashekar Rao led the final agitation for Telangana statehood for 14 years and helped reach the statehood on June 2nd 2014. He is the president of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, a regional party in India.[5] He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly (Telangana) from the Gajwel constituency of Siddipet in Telangana. Previously, he served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (Andhra Pradesh) from Siddipet and also as the Member of Parliament from Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar and Medak. He took oath as the first Chief Minister of the new state of Telangana on 2 June 2014.[6][7][8]

Early life

Rao was born on 17 February 1954 in Chintamadaka village, Siddipet Mandal, Siddipet District of Telangana State.[9] He attained a Masters degree in Literature from Osmania Arts College-Osmania University, Hyderabad.[10][11]

Political career

Congress Party

KCR started his career with the Congress party in 1978 his native Medak district. He was groomed in politics initially by then MLA from Medak - Mr. Anand Mohan. He worked as a prominent Congress youth leader till his switch to Telugu Desam Party in late 1982.at that time cm was NTR and worked along with him

Telugu Desam Party

KCR joined the TDP in 1982 upon receiving offer to join the party established by his film idol Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. He contested against none other than his own political guru A.Madan Mohan and lost that election by a small margin. He won four consecutive Assembly elections from Siddipet between 1985 and 1999. From 1987–1988, he worked as Minister of Drought & Relief in N. T. Rama Rao's cabinet. In 1990, he was appointed as TDP convener for Medak, Nizamabad and Adilabad districts. In 1996, he worked as Transport minister in Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet. He also served as the deputy speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly from 2000–2001.[12]

Telangana Rashtra Samithi

On 27 April 2001, KCR launched a new political outfit called Telangana Rashtra Samiti to lead the struggle for a separate Telangana state.[13]

In the elections of 2004, Rao won the Siddipet state assembly constituency and also the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency, both as a TRS candidate.The TRS fought the 2004 general elections in alliance with the Indian National Congress and Rao was one of the five TRS candidates who were returned as MPs.[14]

TRS was part of the United Progressive Alliance coalition government, led by Congress. The party later withdrew from the coalition, saying that the Alliance was not minded to support a separate Telangana state.[15] In 2004, he fought the Lok Sabha polls and went on to become a Union Cabinet minister of Labour and Employment in the UPA-1 government at the Centre.[12]In 2014 In Telangana, the TRS, emerged victorious by winning 11 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats and 63 of the 119 Assembly seats, and emerged as the party with the largest vote share.[16] KCR was sworn in as the first chief minister of the Telangana state at 12.57 pm on 2 June. Rao, a staunch believer in astrology, numerology and Vaastu, is reported to have fixed this time for his inauguration as per the advice of priests to suit his lucky number ‘six’.[17][18][19] However, not withstanding the criticism he received on some fronts, after two years in office as Chief Minster of Telangana State he was found to be the most popular CM in India with an approval rating of 86% according to a survey by a poll tracking agency.[20]

In November 2016, Rao proposed demolishing the Saifabad Palace, a heritage structure that houses the state governments of Telangana and Andra Pradesh, because it was unlucky for reportedly not following the architectural principles of Vaastu. Rao believes that Telangana will suffer for having the building house its government, and only visits the building for cabinet meetings. Rao asked the state governor to tell N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to vacate the building so it can be demolished and replaced with a Vaastu-compliant structure. The demolition was placed on hold after a petition to the Hyderabad high court by an opposition legislator.[21]

In the same month, Rao moved into the Pragathi Bhavan residence, which cost taxpayers $7.3 m and is spread over 9,000 square metres of prime real estate in Hyderabad. The house was designed according to the architectural principles of Vaastu and was blessed at its opening by Rao's guru. It has an auditorium that can hold 250 people, a meeting hall that accommodates 500, and bulletproof bathrooms.[22]

Personal life

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao is married to Shobha and has two children.[10] His son, K. T. Rama Rao, is a legislator from Sircilla, Karimnagar district, Telangana and is the cabinet minister for IT & Panchayat Raj , Municipal Administration & Urban Development Departments. His daughter, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, is an M.P. from Nizamabad, Telangana. His nephew, Harish Rao, is MLA for the Siddipet constituency and is now the cabinet minister for Irrigation, Legislative Affairs and Marketing in the Telangana.

Criticism

KCR is widely criticized for wasting public money on religious rituals and reconstruction of public buildings and offices in accordance with Vaastu. These are considered by many as either superstitious beliefs or irrational decisions.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]

References

  1. ↑ "First Chief Minister of Telangana State KCR Profile". TelanganaNewsPaper.
  2. ↑ Telangana (13 March 2015). "Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao KCR Profile". Telangana State Portal – Latest News Updates.
  3. ↑ "Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao KCR Profile, Wiki". Telangana State Information, History, Tourism, News, Govt Jobs & Results.
  4. ↑ "'Make in Telangana' should be a global standard: KCR". thehindu.com. The Hindu.
  5. ↑ "Telangana CM, K Chandrashekar Rao, a Hindi, but not English speaking CM in south India". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  6. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Telangana-is-born-as-29th-state-K-Chandrasekhar-Rao-takes-oath-as-first-CM/articleshow/35939720.cms
  7. ↑ http://www.firstpost.com/politics/an-abusive-and-unsavoury-kcr-how-telangana-cms-language-is-lowering-the-dignity-of-his-office-1775037.html
  8. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/K-Chandrasekhar-Raos-acerbic-tongue-does-the-trick-for-Telangana/articleshow/30632130.cms
  9. ↑ "Who is KCR?". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  10. 1 2 "Fifteenth Lok Sabha Members Bioprofile". Parliament of India. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  11. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/K-Chandrasekhar-Raos-acerbic-tongue-does-the-trick-for-Telangana/articleshow/30632130.cms
  12. 1 2 "KCR to enter Congress via Telangana?". IBN Live. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Dy. Speaker resigns, launches new outfit". www.thehindu.com.
  14. ↑ "Politics of separation". Frontline. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  15. ↑ "Telangana isn't scary". hindustantimes.com. Hindustan Times. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  16. ↑ "TRS wins in Telangana". Deccan-Journal. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "KCR to Be Sworn in Telangana State's First CM on June 2". Deccan-Journal. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "KCR to Be Sworn in Telangana State's First CM on June 2". Deccan-Journal. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "Politics of separation". Frontline. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  20. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/kcr-is-the-most-popular-cm/article9283541.ece
  21. ↑ "The 'unlucky' building spooking an Indian minister". BBC News. 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  22. ↑ "India outrage at minister's $7.3m house with bullet-proof bathroom". BBC News. 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  23. ↑ Deccan Chronicle. "Superstitious beliefs of Telangana CM". deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  24. ↑ The Hans India. "Of KCR, superstition and Vemulawada visit". Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  25. ↑ The Hans India. "Did you know Telangana CM KCR is superstitious?". thehansindia.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  26. ↑ http://www.greatandhra.com/politics/gossip/this-kcr-will-never-give-up-superstitions-15493.html
  27. ↑ http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/kcr-s-five-day-mahayagam-ritual-under-scanner-for-govt-spends/story-B5vK09fILm2730I3Ko1iyK.html
  28. ↑ http://expresstvindia.com/chandi-yagam-against-spirit-of-constitution-secularism-cpim-32098.ashx
  29. ↑ http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/dissatisfied-bad-press-kcr-launch-new-english-daily-43554
  30. ↑ http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/ayutha-chandi-maha-yagam-begins-at-kcr-s-farmhouse-in-medak-115122300226_1.html
  31. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/KCR-faces-flak-from-opposition/articleshow/46082388.cms
  32. ↑ http://www.deccanherald.com/content/519134/maha-yagam-kcrs-farmhouse-draws.html
Preceded by
Position Established		 Chief Minister of Telangana
2 June 2014 – current 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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