After more than four decades, Guntur MP becomes Central Minister

GUNTUR: After more than four decades, an MP from Guntur Lok Sabha constituency has been inducted into the Union Cabinet. TDP MP Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar was sworn in as Union Minister of State for TDP MP Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar was sworn in as Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications in Prime Minister Narendra Modi Cabinet 3.0. Pemmasani is the second MP from Guntur to achieve this rare feat after Kotha Raghuramaiah of Congress.

Raghuramaiah won as an MP from Guntur for five consecutive times in 1957, 1962, 1967, 1971 and 1977, and served as Union Minister of Defence, Civil Aviation, Petroleum and Chemicals, Tourism and Parliamentary Affairs from 1962 to 1977 in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet. He is not only the longest serving MP of Guntur, but also one of the longest-serving Cabinet Ministers in Independent India. Pemmasani, an NRI, made his electoral debut from Guntur Lok Sabha constituency and won with a majority of 3.4 lakh votes.

Srikakulam TDP MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and Narasapuram BJP MP Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma also found place from the State in Modi Cabinet 3.0. Following in his father Yerran Naidu’s footsteps, Ram Mohan Naidu has set a new record as the youngest member of Modi Cabinet 3.0. Yerran Naidu, was the first MP from Srikakulam to serve as the Union Minister, who became an MLA at the age of just 25.

He served as the Union Minister for Rural Development and Employment in HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral cabinets from 1996 to 1998. Later, Congress MP Killi Krupa Rani, served as the Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology in Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet from 2012 to 2014 .

Srinivasa Varma is also the second MP to be inducted into the Union Cabinet from Narasapuram Lok Sabha constituency after veteran actor and BJP MP U Krishnam Raju. He served as the Union Minister of State for Defence and External Affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet from 1999 to 2004.