KTR birthday: From IT professional to Telangana Minister, know about his political journey

Telangana Minister and TRS working President KT Rama Rao has not only proved to be a strong leader in the state but has also successfully headed several campaigns for the party.

KTR, who celebrates his birthday on July 24, is currently serving as the Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology Minister of Telangana. He is the son of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR).

Rao began his stint as an IT professional in 1998. However, he moved to politics in 2009 when he contested the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections from the Sircilla Assembly constituency.

KTR has won seats from Sircilla Assembly quite a few times, defeating opponents including independent candidate, KK Mahender Reddy (twice), Konduri Ravider Rao from Congress. TRS, thus, emerged as the ruling party with the single largest majority in the assembly.

KTR was sworn in as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Telangana and Cabinet Minister for Information Technology and Panchayat Raj in 2014.

He was instrumental in setting up the largest start-up incubator, T-Hub, in Gachibowli. The platform is considered to be one of his landmark initiatives for youth to innovate, incubate, and incorporate new ideas for entrepreneurship.

The politician has invited numerous industry leaders such as Adobe Inc. CEO Shantanu Narayen, Biocon chairman Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, among others to mentor young entrepreneurs. Infosys built its biggest campus in T-Hub soon after the company's CEO, Vishal Sikka met with KTR.

The guidelines for the implementation of "GramaJyothi," a flagship programme of the state administration that was announced on August 15, 2015, were developed by a Cabinet Sub-Committee led by Minister Rao.

With an estimated cost of Rs. 35,000 crore, Rao introduced the Water Grid Scheme (Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project - Water Grid) in September 2015. Similarly, he has launched various schemes for the welfare of the state.

Published on: Saturday, July 23, 2022, 02:52 PM IST