K. Chandrashekar Rao

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K. Chandrashekar Rao
Official portrait, April 2017
3rd Leader of the Opposition
Telangana Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
9 December 2023
GovernorTamilisai Soundararajan
Chief MinisterRevanth Reddy
Preceded byVacant
Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka (2018-19)
President of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi
Assumed office
5 October 2022
Working PresidentK. T. Rama Rao
Preceded byOffice Established
1st Chief Minister of Telangana
In office
2 June 2014 – 7 December 2023
Governor
Deputy
Preceded byOffice Established
(Kiran Kumar Reddy as Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh)
Succeeded byAnumula Revanth Reddy[1]
Member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
2 June 2014
Preceded byTumkunta Narsa Reddy
ConstituencyGajwel
Union Minister of Labour & Employment
In office
27 November 2004 – 24 August 2006
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded bySis Ram Ola
Succeeded byManmohan Singh
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways
In office
22 May 2004 – 25 May 2004
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byShatrughan Sinha
Succeeded byT. R. Baalu
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
2009–2014
Preceded byD. Vittal Rao
Succeeded byA. P. Jithender Reddy
ConstituencyMahbubnagar
In office
2004–2009
Preceded byC. Vidyasagar Rao
Succeeded byPonnam Prabhakar
ConstituencyKarimnagar
President of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi
In office
27 April 2001 – 5 October 2022
Working PresidentK. T. Rama Rao (from 15 December 2018)
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byOffice Abolished
15th Deputy Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office
1999–2001
Speaker
Preceded byN. Mohammed Farook
Succeeded byKoppula Harishwar Reddy
Minister of Transport
Government of Andhra Pradesh
In office
1 September 1995 – 11 October 1999
GovernorKrishan Kant
Gopala Ramanujam
C. Rangarajan
Chief MinisterN. Chandrababu Naidu
Preceded byP. Chandrasekhar
Succeeded byAlimineti Madhava Reddy
Minister of Drought & Relief
Government of Andhra Pradesh
In office
1987–1988
GovernorKumudben Joshi
Chief MinisterN. T. Rama Rao
Member of Legislative Assembly
Andhra Pradesh
In office
1985–2004
Preceded byAnanthula Madan Mohan
Succeeded byT. Harish Rao
ConstituencySiddipet
Personal details
Born (1954-02-17) 17 February 1954 (age 70)
Chintamadaka,[2][3] Hyderabad State, (present-day Telangana) India
Political partyBharat Rashtra Samithi (Since 2001)
Other political
affiliations		Indian National Congress (1980–1983)
Telugu Desam Party (1983–2001)
SpouseK. Shobha
ChildrenK. T. Rama Rao (son)
K. Kavitha (daughter)
RelativesK. Himanshu Rao (grandchild)
T. Harish Rao (nephew)
Joginapally Santosh Kumar (nephew)
ResidencePragathi Bhavan
Alma materOsmania University

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (born 17 February 1954), frequently known by his initials KCR, is an Indian politician currently representing the Gajwel Assembly constituency and serving as the leader of the opposition in the Telangana Legislative Assembly. He is the founder and leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, a state party in India.[4]

Early life[edit]

Rao was born to Raghava Rao and Venkatamma on 17 February 1954 in Chintamadaka village, Hyderabad State (present-day Telangana).[5] He is of the Velama caste.[6] Rao has nine sisters and one elder brother.[7] He attained an MA degree in Telugu literature from Osmania University, Hyderabad.[8][9]

Early political career[edit]

Congress Party[edit]

Rao started his career with the Youth Congress Party in the Medak district, Telangana.[10]

Telugu Desam Party[edit]

In 1983, Rao joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) but was defeated by A. Madan Mohan in the election. He won four consecutive Assembly elections from Siddipet 1985 and 1999. From 1987 to 1988, he served as the Minister of Drought & Relief in Chief Minister N. T. Rama Rao's cabinet. In 1990, he was appointed TDP convener for Medak, Nizamabad, and Adilabad districts. In 1996, he served as Transport minister in Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet.[citation needed] He also served as the deputy speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly from 2000 to 2001.[11]

Jai Telangana movement[edit]

Further information: Telangana movement
K. Chandra Shekhar Rao assumes the office of Labour and Employment Minister in New Delhi on 28 November 2004

On 27 April 2001, Rao resigned as Deputy Speaker, TDP Party as well.[12] He asserted that the people of the Telangana region were being discriminated and believed that a separate state is the only solution.[13] In April 2001, he formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Party now formally known Bharata Rashtra Samithi (BRS at Jala Drushyam, Hyderabad to achieve Telangana statehood.[12] In the elections of 2004, he 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 with a Promise of Congress Party to give Telangana State and Rao was one of the five TRS candidates who was returned as MPs.[14][15]

TRS was part of the United Progressive Alliance coalition government, led by Congress. Rao went on to become a Union Cabinet minister of Labour and Employment in the United Progressive Alliance government at the centre with his party colleague Aelay Narendra who became minister of Rural Development and Jannu Jakaraiah as chairman for National Minimum Wages Advisory Board. The party later withdrew from the coalition, saying that the Alliance was not minded to support a separate Telangana state.[16] He has resigned as MP in 2006 on a challenge of Congress and won with a huge majority of more than 200,000 votes. Again he resigned as MP in agitation of Telangana movement and won with a minor majority.

In 2009, Rao fought and won the Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha elections. In November 2009, he started a fast-unto-death, demanding the introduction of Telangana Bill in the Indian Parliament. After 11 days of beginning his fast, the Central Government said yes to Telangana as a separate state.[17]

The TRS party fought the general elections as part of the opposition coalition led by TDP. In 2014, Rao was elected as MLA from Gajwel Assembly Constituency of Medak Dist of Telangana State with a majority of 19,218 and as MP from Medak with a majority of 397,029 on 16 May 2014.

In Telangana, the TRS, which led the campaign for a separate State for more than a decade, 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.[18]

Rao addressing a public gathering during Telangana Agitation

Chief Minister of Telangana (2014–2023)[edit]

K. Chandrashekar Rao with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hyderabad Metro in 2017

Rao was sworn in as the first chief minister of the Telangana state at 12:57 pm on 2 June 2014. 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'.[19][20][21] He was re-elected eight times as TRS president.[22] In September 2018, he dissolved the Telangana Legislative Assembly, nine months before its term ends to go for an early election.[23] In December 2018, he was re-elected as Chief Minister for the second term, after winning the 2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election.[24]

Rao shaped the Telangana state to a high degree of development both economically and culturally, right from the formative years of the state since 2014. His welfare programs are aimed at reviving the rural economy and are focused on the development of each community. An intensive household survey, Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS) was done in a single day on 19 August 2014 across the state to arrive at citizen information for rolling out welfare programs. The data collected pertaining to 94 parameters, covered one crore four lakh households in the State.[25]

Rao had revived the Telangana history, culture and festivals. The native festival Bathukamma, festival of flowers and Shakti was declared as state festival.[26] In 2017, he declared Urdu to be the second official language of Telangana.[27] The government spent Rs. 1,200 crore for the expansion of the Yadadri temple.[28]

The Rao government has been described as populist, launching several welfare schemes.[29][30][31][32]

Rao launched the Aarogya Lakshmi scheme on 1 January 2015.[33][34] He also launched the Double Bedroom Housing scheme, which aims to end slums in Telangana by providing free housing to the poor. The Kalyana Lakshmi - Shaadi Mubarak scheme, providing assistance to newlywed couples, Rythu Bandhu scheme, providing assistance to farmers,[32] and Aasara pension scheme, providing pensions to all senior citizens were also launched by the Rao government.[35][36] On August 16, 2021, he launched the Dalit Bandu Scheme.[37]

In 2023 elections, he contested from Gajwel and Kamareddy constituencies. He won Gajwel and lost Kamareddy.[38] As his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi was defeated by Indian National Congress led by Revanth Reddy, he submitted his resignation on 3 December 2023.[39]

National Politics[edit]

In May 2019, ahead of the 2019 Indian general election, Rao attempted to set up Federal Front along with leaders of other regional political parties. The Front's aim was to bring a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance to power at the Central Government of India.[40][41]

Bharat Rashtra Samithi[edit]

In June 2022, Rao announced to float a national party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).[42] On 5 October 2022, at the day of Vijayadashami, he renamed his party to Bharat Rashtra Samithi on party's Executive Council Meeting.

Personal life[edit]

Rao is married to Shobha and has two children.[8] His son, K. T. Rama Rao is a legislator from Sircilla. He was the cabinet minister for IT, Municipal Administration & Urban Development in Telangana second assembly. His daughter, Kavitha, served as M.P. from Nizamabad and is currently serving as a Member of Legislative Council, Nizamabad. His nephew, Harish Rao, is MLA from Siddipet. He served as Telangana's cabinet minister for finance in second assembly of Telangana. He is proficient in Telugu, English, Urdu, and Hindi.[43] He lives with his family at his farm house at Erravelli in Medak district.

In 2015, Rao adopted Pratyusha, who was rescued from domestic violence. She was married in 2020.[44][45]

Views[edit]

Rao is a Gandhian. He has credited Mahatma Gandhi's ideology for inspiring him in his non-violent Telangana movement.[46][47]

Rao has described Rahul Gandhi as the "biggest buffoon in the country".[48] He has described Narendra Modi as the "most ineffective PM" in Indian history.[49]

Rao is follower of Sri Vaishnavism of Ramanuja, an ardent devotee of his guru Chinna Jeeyar and a strong believer of Hinduism and spirituality.[50][51][52] To heighten spiritual consciousness, KCR initiated the reconstruction and renovation of significant temples across Telangana, including Yadadri, Kondagattu, and Vemulawada, among others.[53][54][55][56]

Other work[edit]

Rao gave lyrics for the song "Garadi chesthundru" from the film Jai Bolo Telangana (2011), and wrote a song in Kolimi (2015).[57] He also gave lyrics for songs to promote Mission Kakatiya and for his 2018 poll campaign.[58][59]

Electoral performance[edit]

Year Contested For Constituency Opponent Votes Majority Result
1 1983 MLA Siddipet Ananthula Madan Mohan (INC) 27,889–28,766 – 887 Lost
2 1985 T. Mahender Reddy (INC) 45,215–29,059 16,156 Won
3 1989 Ananthula Madan Mohan (INC) 53,145–39,329 13,816 Won
4 1994 64,645–37,538 27,107 Won
5 1999 Mushinam Swamy Charan (INC) 69,169–41,614 27,555 Won
6 2001 By Polls Mareddy Srinivas Reddy (TDP) 82,632–23,920 58,712 Won
7 2004 Jilla Srinivas (TDP) 74,287–29,619 44,668 Won
8 2004 MP Karimnagar Chennamaneni Vidyasagara Rao (BJP) 451,199–320,031 131,168 Won
9 2006 By Polls T. Jeevan Reddy (INC) 378,030–176,448 201,582 Won
10 2008 By Polls 269,452–153,687 115,765 Won
11 2009 Mahabubnagar Devarakonda Vittal Rao (INC) 366,569–346,385 20,184 Won
12 2014 MLA Gajwel Pratap Reddy Vanteru (TDP) 86,694–67,303 19,391 Won
13 2014 MP Medak P. Shravan Kumar Reddy (INC) 657,492–260,463 397,029 Won
14 2018 MLA Gajwel Pratap Reddy Vanteru (INC) 125,444–67,154 58,290 Won
15 2023 MLA Kamareddy K Venkata Ramana Reddy (BJP) 59,911-66,652 -6,741 Lost
Gajwel Etela Rajender (BJP) 111,684-66,653 45,031 Won

Awards[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Revanth Reddy To Be Sworn In As Telangana Chief Minister Tomorrow". NDTV. 7 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Chief MinisterSri K Chandrashekar Rao". Cm.telangana.gov.in.
  3. ^ "Second Telangana Legislative Assembly Constituted on 12.12.2018 : District wise List of members". Cm.telangana.gov.in. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Telangana CM, K Chandrashekar Rao, a Hindi speaking CM in south India". The Times of India. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  5. ^ "6,000 priests to hold special pujas on K Chandrasekhar Rao's birthday". The Times of India. 17 February 2017.
  6. ^ "125-ft statue of Ambedkar, awards for social service — how KCR is trying to shed 'feudal image'". 15 April 2023.
  7. ^ Rao (21 February 2018). "Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao's sister Vimala Bai passes away | Hyderabad News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Fifteenth Lok Sabha Members Bioprofile". Parliament of India. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  9. ^ "K Chandrashekar Rao: Know the journey of 'architect' of Telangana movement". Moneycontrol. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  10. ^ "K Chandrasekhar Rao: An obscure Congress foot soldier who became mascot of Telangana pride". The Times of India. 11 December 2018.
  11. ^ "KCR to enter Congress via Telangana?". IBN Live. 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Dy. Speaker resigns, launches new outfit". The Hindu. 28 April 2001. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  13. ^ "Telangana finds a new man and moment". Hinduonnet.com. 19 May 2001. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  14. ^ "Politics of separation". Frontline. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  15. ^ "KCR: The man who revived Telangana movement". Hindustan Times. 21 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Telangana isn't scary". Hindustan Times. 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  17. ^ "KCR smiles and ends a 11 days fast over Telangana". NDTV. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
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  19. ^ "KCR to Be Sworn in Telangana State's First CM on June 2". Deccan-Journal. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  20. ^ "KCR to Be Sworn in Telangana State's First CM on June 2". Deccan-Journal. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  21. ^ "Politics of separation". Frontline. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  22. ^ KCR re-elected 8 time as TRS president. INDToday. Retrieved on 16 June 2017.
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  26. ^ "Bathukamma is made Telangana state festival". Deccan Chronicle. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  27. ^ Khanna, Sakshi (10 November 2017). "KCR Declares Urdu Second Official Language in Telangana, BJP Calls It Muslim Appeasement". News18. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  28. ^ Sadam, Rishika (17 June 2021). "How KCR built his 'Tirumala' dream in Telangana — Rs 1,200 cr & non-stop work through Covid". ThePrint. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  29. ^ "KCR takes populist path to woo voters". gulfnews.com. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
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  32. ^ a b "KCR demolishes opposition in Telangana, wins a landslide". The Week. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  33. ^ "'Arogya Laxmi' scheme". The Hindu. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  34. ^ "Telangana becoming a role model State: Governor". Thehansindia.com. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  35. ^ "Kalyana Lakshmi, Shaadi Mubarak preventing child marriages in TS: B. Vinod to Satyarthi". The Hindu. 30 August 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  36. ^ "52 lakh benefit monthly from Aasara pension". Deccan Chronicle. 31 December 2022.
  37. ^ Reddy, L. Venkat Ram (17 May 2022). "KCR to begin statewide tour". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  38. ^ "Telangana election result: KCR wins from Gajwel constituency, loses in Kamareddy". India Today. 3 December 2023.
  39. ^ "Telangana Election Results 2023 Highlights: KCR misses hat-trick as Congress crosses halfway mark in state". Livemint. 3 December 2023.
  40. ^ Ch Sushil Rao (11 May 2019). "CM K Chandrasekhar Rao set to step up federal front efforts". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  41. ^ Lasania, Yunus Y. (8 May 2019). "As polls enter final stages, KCR hard sells federal front idea". mint. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  42. ^ Today, Telangana (11 June 2022). "KCR likely to float national party Bharat Rashtra Samithi". Telangana Today. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
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  44. ^ "Rescued from torture 5 years ago, KCR's adopted daughter Pratyusha marries". Hindustan Times. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  45. ^ "KCR's 'adopted' daughter gets married; CM gives it a miss". The Siasat Daily. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  46. ^ Janyala, Sreenivas (2 October 2022). "Telangana: KCR unveils Gandhi statue, urges thinkers to flay criticism of Mahatma". The Indian Express.
  47. ^ "Gandhian path helped achieve separate Telangana: CM KCR". The New Indian Express. 2 October 2019.
  48. ^ "Rahul Gandhi "Biggest Buffoon" In The Country, Says KCR". NDTV.com. 22 February 2019.
  49. ^ Vadlapatla, Sribala (13 February 2023). "KCR: Narendra Modi most ineffective PM of India, only boasts — Hyderabad News". The Times of India.
  50. ^ "KCR meets Chinna Jeeyar Swamy". The Times of India. 12 October 2021.
  51. ^ "KCR visits Chinna Jeeyar Ashram in Muchintal". Telangana Today. 9 January 2022.
  52. ^ "Can the Seer save revenue department and change KCR's mind?". India Herald. 15 April 2019.
  53. ^ Dayashankar, K. m (18 June 2015). "KCR announces Rs. 100-crore yearly grant for Vemulawada temple". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  54. ^ "CM KCR now focusses on the development of the historic Vemulawada temple". Mission Telangana. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  55. ^ Today, Telangana (29 March 2022). "After Yadadri, focus shifts to Vemulawada, Kondagattu". Telangana Today. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  56. ^ V, Ramakrishna. "Inauguration of renovated Yadadri Temple - Sri K. Chandrashekar Rao". cm.telangana.gov.in. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  57. ^ "Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao writes song to save lakes". Deccan Chronicle. 21 December 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  58. ^ Reddy, R. Ravikanth (9 November 2018). "Meet KCR – the song writer". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  59. ^ Reddy, U. Sudhakar (22 November 2018). "KCR pens songs for poll campaign, others tune in to popular lyricists | Hyderabad News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  60. ^ Telangana (17 March 2015). "CM KCR Bagged Indian of the Year 2014". Telangana State Portal – Latest News Updates.
  61. ^ "CBI examines Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao for 2006 order as Union minister". The Times of India. 22 October 2015.
  62. ^ Kumar, S. Vijay (21 October 2015). "Telangana CM examined by CBI team in 2006 case". The Hindu.
  63. ^ "CBI Questions to KCR on UPA Era Case Raise a Few Eyebrows". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015.
  64. ^ Telangana (19 August 2017). "CM KCR gets "Agricultural Leadership Award 2017"". Telangana State News.
  65. ^ ET Bureau (18 November 2018). "CM KCR gets "Economic Times business reformer of the year 2018 award"". The Economic Times.

External links[edit]

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Preceded by
Position Established
 Chief Minister of Telangana
2 June 2014 – 3 December 2023 		Succeeded by
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