Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao is a famous Indian politician and the first Chief Minister of Telangana. He is popularly known by his nickname KCR. He established Telangana Rashtra Samithi in April 2001. He played a key role in the struggle for an independent state for Telangana. Let us know some more interesting facts about KCR.
Biography/Wikipedia, Caste
K Chandrashekar Rao was born on 17 February 1954 in Chinthamadaka village, Siddipet, Medak district, India (70 years; as of 2024). He is a law graduate from Osmania University, Hyderabad, and holds an MA in Telugu Literature from the School of Arts, Osmania University, Hyderabad. KCR had a special interest in politics since his college days and started his political career in 1970 by joining the Medak District Youth Congress Party led by Sanjay Gandhi. At a time when the entire country was against the controversial Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975, Rao supported the Congress party’s decision.
KCR served in Congress when he first entered politics.
family
K Chandrashekar Rao was born in Chinthamadaka village in Medak district, India, to Raghav Rao and Venkatamma. KCR is the second child among his siblings, having eight siblings, an elder brother and a younger sister. His caste is Veerama.
KCR’s parents
KCR with family and sisters during Raksha Bandhan
KCR married Shobha Rao on April 23, 1969. The couple has a son and a daughter. KCR’s son KT Rama Rao (his nickname is KTR) is a cabinet minister in charge of various matters and a member of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Legislative Assembly from Silesia. KCR’s daughter K Kavitha is the MP from Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
KCR and wife Shobha
KCR and his daughter Kavitha
KCR’s son (KTR) and daughter (Kavitha)
Profession
KCR entered politics with the help of his brother K Ranga Rao. In 1982, KCR was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Medak District State Youth Congress. In 1983, he became a member of the Telugu Democratic Party (TDP) founded by N. T Rama Rao. KCR contested the 1983 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections as an independent candidate but lost to A. Madan Mohan. He contested again in the subsequent assembly elections and won the Siddipet constituency four consecutive terms from 1985 to 1999. He also served as a member of the Legislative Assembly for Siddipet constituency. KCR also served as Minister for Drought and Relief in Rama Rao’s cabinet in the Northern Territory. In 1996, he became the Transport Minister in the Chandrababu Naidu cabinet and was elected Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly from 2000 to 2001.
KCR served as MLA during his tenure in Congress
KCR served as a TDP member and deputy speaker until he resigned from the TDP and formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in 2001. He served as MP from Mahbubnagar constituency between 2009 and 2014. He also served as Cabinet Labor and Minister in the Manmohan Singh government and was MLA from Gajwal constituency in Medak district of Telangana.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi logo
KCR with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
KCR with Sonia Gandhi
KCR established Telangana Rashtra Samithi with the aim of providing justice to the people of Telangana region who were discriminated against in one way or another. Therefore, he took steps to strive for the independence of Telangana. After the death of then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Reddy, KCR launched a quick-fatal strike that ended 11 days later on December 9, 2009, when the Indian government declared Telangana state. Finally, KCR became the first chief minister of the newly formed Telangana state on June 2, 2014.
KCR during Telangana state formation day
K. Chandrashekar Rao is contesting the 2023 Telangana Legislative Assembly elections from Gajwel and Kamareddy constituencies on a Bharat Rashtra Samithi ticket. He won the Gajwel seat by a margin of 45,031 votes; however, he lost the Kamareddy seat to the BJP candidate Katipalli Venkata Ramana Reddy.
Awards/Achievements
In 2014, KCR was awarded the “CNN-IBN Indian Most Popular Choice Award of the Year” in recognition of his popularity among the public after 13 years of struggle for Telangana to gain independent statehood. In 2017, he was awarded the Global Agriculture Leadership Award for his innovative services for farmer welfare.
Salary/Net Worth
KCR’s salary is approximately Rs 4,10,000. He has about Rs 44 lakh in bank deposits and about Rs 4 crore in bonds, debentures and stocks. As of 2014, his net worth is estimated to be Rs 150 million.
favorite thing
- He likes to smoke Benson and Hedges cigarettes.
- His hobbies include reading, writing, poetry, and listening to music.
fact
- He served as TSR Chairman about 8 times.
Signed by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao
- KCR is a very superstitious politician who believes in numerology. Moreover, when he was about to be sworn in as Telangana CM on June 2, 2014, he chose 12:57 noon; as suggested by his pastor.
- As in 2018, he resides in Pragathi Bhawan, Hyderabad
- He is a huge admirer of TDP founder NT Rama Rao.
- In 2004, he contested the elections from Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency and Siddipet State Assembly constituency as a TRS candidate and won twice.
- In June 2019, Rao launched the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project to irrigate 10 million acres of land with a capital expenditure of Rs 85,000 crore.
- KCR launched the ‘Kakatiya’ mission in 2014 with an aim to revitalize and restore 46,000 tanks and lakes.
- In June 2017, he launched the Amma ODI & KCR Kit program, a successful program for lactating and pregnant women.
- The leader is fluent in languages like English, Urdu, Telugu and Hindi.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education