Two members of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are set to be sworn in as Union ministers in the NDA government on Sunday evening. Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu (36), a three-time MP from Srikakula, will be sworn in as a Cabinet minister and first-time MP Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani (48) will be sworn in as a minister of state.
Ram Mohan Naidu, one of the youngest MPs from the state, won for the third consecutive time from north Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam by defeating Tilak Perada of YSRCP by a margin of 3.2 lakh votes. The MBA holder is the national general secretary of the TDP and its floor leader in the Lok Sabha.
His father, the late K Yerran Naidu, was a senior party leader and former MLA and MP, who was a Union minister in the United Front government between 1996 and 1998. His uncle K Atchennaidu is the MLA from Tekkali and the TDP state unit president.
Dr Chandra Sekhar, whose family has worked for the TDP for decades, contested for the first time and won against YSRCP’s Kilari Venkata Rosaiah by a margin of 3.4 lakhs votes. The 48-year-old NRI medical doctor is one of the richest contestants, with his family owning assets worth over Rs 5,785 crore.
A medical doctor who did his MBBS from Dr NTR University of Health Sciences in 1999, Dr Chandra Shekar went on to do an MD in Internal Medicine from Geisinger Medical Centre, Pennsylvania, US, in 2005. Hailing from Burripalem village of Tenali, his family have been supporters of the TDP for a long time and he sought a ticket to contest this time.
It was speculated that four TDP MPs likely to be inducted into the cabinet, but TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly told Prime Minister Narendra Modi he is not particular on cabinet berths and suggested him to take a decision as per his convenience. Though TDP is aspiring for Speaker post, Deputy Speaker is likely to be from the party.