BJP again rewards its prominent Telangana face Kishan Reddy

Hyderabad/New Delhi, June  (IANS) Gangapuram Kishan Reddy, who was sworn in as a Union Cabinet Minister for the second time on Sunday, has come up in his political career with sheer hard work and determination.

A second-term MP from Secunderabad, he is one of the senior leaders and prominent faces of the BJP in Telangana after starting his political career as an ordinary party worker.

Kishan Reddy, who is also the President of BJP’s Telangana unit, was inducted into the PM Narendra Modi ministry in 2019 as Minister of State for Home. In July 2021, he was promoted to Cabinet rank and was given the portfolios of Tourism, Culture, and Development of the Northeastern Region.

He was the only central minister from Telangana for five years.

With BJP putting up an impressive performance to double its tally of Lok Sabha seats to eight in the just-concluded elections, the party leadership rewarded him by inducting him again in the Cabinet.

The 63-year-old retained the Secunderabad seat by defeating his nearest rival Danam Nagender of Congress by about 50,000 votes.

Born in 1960 in a middle-class farmer's home in Ranga Reddy district, Kishan Reddy earned a diploma in tool design from the Central Institute of Tool Designs in Hyderabad. Inspired by Jayaprakash Narayan, he started his political career as a youth worker in the Janata Party. When the BJP was formed, he joined the party as an ordinary worker but soon graduated to handle key responsibilities in the organisation. Kishan Reddy served as President of the All India Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the party. He was also President of BJP's state unit in undivided Andhra Pradesh for two terms from 2010 to 2014.

After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, he became President of the Telangana unit of the party and held the post till 2016. He was first elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 2004 from Himayatnagar constituency in Hyderabad. After the delimitation of constituencies in 2009, he contested from Amberpet and went on to win two terms as MLA from the constituency. He also served as floor leader of the party in both the state Assemblies. He lost the Amberpet Assembly constituency in the elections held in December 2018 but was picked up as the party candidate from Secunderabad for the Lok Sabha elections held a few months later.

Last year, the BJP leadership appointed him President of the party's state unit, replacing Bandi Sanjay Kumar. Though his appointment following a revolt against Sanjay Kumar was not seen as an encouraging sign by a section of party leaders due to his soft approach, the party under Kishan Reddy’s leadership was able to increase its tally in the 119-member Assembly to eight from just one seat the party won in 2018.

In Lok Sabha elections held a few months later, the BJP improved its performance to double its tally to eight.