Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao or K. C. Rao is the first Chief Minister of the south Indian State Telangana. He belongs to the regional political party Telangana Rashtra Samithi and also serves as the President of the same. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly and represents the Gajwel constituency of Medak district, in the state. He has also served as the Member of Parliament from Mahbubnagar and the Member of the Legislative Assembly from Siddipet. His is the former Cabinet Minister for Labour and Employment.
Early Life of Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao
Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao was born on 17th February 1954 in a village called Chintamadaka located in the Medak district. He did his post graduation from O.U Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad, in Telugu Literature.
Political Career of Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao
Rao began his political career with youth Congress party in Medak district under the leadership of Sanjay Gandhi in the 1970s. During that phase he along with a few others supported Indira Gandhi even after she lost the 1977 Lok Sabha polls. In the year 1983 he joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and contested the lection, but faced defeat. However later he won four consecutive Assembly elections as a representative of Siddipet between the period of 1985 and 1999. Since 1987 to 1988 he was designated as the Minister of Drought and Relief in the Cabinet of N. T. Ramarao. He was appointed as TDP convener for the districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad and Medak in 1990. In the year 1996 he served as Transport Minister in the Cabinet Ministry of Chandrababau Niadu. Since 2000 to 2001 he worked as the Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Assembly.
Rao resigned as a TDP MLA and Deputy Speaker on 27th April 2001. He formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in April 2001 for campaigning for his separatist agenda. Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao won the Siddipet state assembly constituency in the year 2004 along with the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency both as a candidate of TRS. The party fought the general election of 2004 in alliance with Indian National Congress in which Rao succeeded in becoming the Member of Parliament. Previously TRS was included in the United Progressive Alliance coalition government under the leadership of Congress. However later the TRS withdrew from the coalition as the alliance was not in favour of a separate Telangana state. Rao contested the Lok Sabha polls and became the Union Cabinet Minister of Labour and Employment in the UPA led Government of India but submitted his resignation in 2006. He won the Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha in 2009. He also got elected as MLA representing Gajwel constituency of Medak district.
Asannagari Jeevan Reddy was declared as the first Member of the Legislative Assembly candidate of Telangana Rashtra Samithi from Armoor, Telangana, by Rao in the elections of 2014. It marked the very first announcement by a political party in Telangana. Subsequently Rao won the 63 out of 119 Assembly Seats in Telangana and became the first Chief Minister of Telengana. The party also bagged 11 out of the 17 Lok Sabha Seats in Telangana and emerged as a super power. Rao thus became the Member of Parliament as a representative of Medak constituency. Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao was sworn as the Chief Minister on 2nd June 2014.
Personal Life of Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao
Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao is married to Shobha, daughter of the freedom fighter J. Keshava Rao, and the couple is blessed with two children. His son named K. T. Rama Rao serves as a legislator from Sirisilla, Karimnagar district, Telangana, whereas his daughter, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, is an MP representing Nizamabad. Harish Rao, a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Siddipet constituency, is his nephew.