 "Who is TDP’s Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, youngest minister in Modi Cabinet 3.0?")
Narendra Modi has been sworn in as India’s Prime Minister in a grand ceremony on Sunday (9 June) evening. He was joined by newly-elected MPs, who also took the oath of office.
Speculations were rife about who will be inducted into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and who will face the axe.
Two Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members are ministers in Modi’s third government. In fact, one of them has become the youngest Cabinet minister. Who is that MP-elect?
Let’s take a closer look.
TDP MPs to be part of Council of Ministers
N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP stormed to power in Andhra Pradesh in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls held simultaneously.
His party clinched 16 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the southern state, with its allies BJP winning three and Pawan Kalyan’s Janasena Party (JSP) getting two.
In the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, the TDP bagged 135 out of 175 seats, the JSP 21 and the BJP eight.
The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) secured the remaining Lok Sabha and Assembly seats.
With the TDP emerging as the second-largest NDA constituent in terms of Lok Sabha seats, the saffron party is now reliant on Chandrababu Naidu to return to power.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsTDP leaders Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani are part of the NDA government at the Centre.
At 36, Ram Mohan Naidu would be the youngest MP to be inducted into the Modi 3.0 Cabinet.
Who is Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu?
Ram Mohan Naidu is a three-time MP from Andhra’s Srikakulam Lok Sabha constituency. He won the seat with a huge margin of 327,901 votes against YSRCP’s Perada Tilak.
The 36-year-old was sworn in as a Cabinet minister in the NDA government. As per The Hindu, he is the youngest-ever member of the Union Cabinet led by Narendra Modi.
Ram Mohan Naidu is TDP’s national general secretary and was its floor leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
The son of former Union minister K Yerran Naidu, Ram Mohan pursued electrical engineering at Purdue University and has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Long Island University.
He was employed in Singapore when his father and senior TDP leader Yerran Naidu died in a road accident on 2 November 2012.
The tragedy marked Ram Mohan’s entry into politics. He contested the Srikakulam Lok Sabha seat for the first time in 2014 at 26 years of age, becoming the second-youngest MP at the time.
His close association with TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu ensured the Srikakulam MP’s rise in politics.
As an MP, Ram Mohan was a member of various Parliamentary standing committees. He received the Sansad Ratna Award in 2020 for his exemplary performance as a member of Parliament, reported ANI.
The MP-elect is also known for his progressive and pro-women views. In 2021, Ram Mohan made headlines when he sought nine days of paternity leave during the Budget Session. His move sparked conversations about gender roles in parenting.
In his letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking leave of absence, the TDP MP wrote then, “Childcare should not solely be the responsibility of the mother. I look forward to being an equal contributor in the care and progress of our child."
As per Indian Express, he is one of the first MPs to endorse menstrual health education and sex education in Parliament. He also advocated removing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on sanitary pads.
Jayadev Galla, industrialist and a two-time TDP MP who quit politics in February, congratulated Ram Mohan Naidu in a post on X. He wrote, “Congratulations to my young friend @RamMNK on being confirmed as a cabinet minister in the new NDA Government! Your sincerity and humble nature will surely be an asset to the development of the country. Wishing you all the best in your new role!”
Congratulations to my young friend @RamMNK on being confirmed as a cabinet minister in the new #NDA Government! Your sincerity and humble nature will surely be an asset to the development of the country. Wishing you all the best in your new role! pic.twitter.com/VkgGu8kdHB
— Jay Galla (@JayGalla) June 9, 2024
Speaking to ANI, Ram Mohan Naidu said the TDP stands by its poll promise of preserving a four per cent quota for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh. He said the party’s vision is to develop the state and work for the “Telugu people wherever they are, in Andhra or Telangana.”
When asked about the TDP getting a Cabinet berth in the NDA government at the Centre, he said, “After a long time, TDP will have a Union Minister. We are very happy. We have the undivided attention of the Central government.”
ALSO READ: Amit Shah, Rajnath, Shivraj: The candidates expected to get ministerial berths in Modi 3.0
Who else is expected to be sworn in?
The other TDP MP who took oath is 48-year-old Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani. He is likely to be a minister of state (MoS). Pemmasani, an NRI doctor, was one of the richest candidates in the 18th Lok Sabha elections. He won the Guntur Lok Sabha seat by defeating the YSRCP contestant by over 3.4 lakh votes.
Besides the TDP, another NDA ally – the JD(U) – will also get ministerial berths in Modi 3.0.
Senior leaders of Nitish Kumar’s party Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur took oath today.
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena got a berth in the Union Cabinet.
Hindustani Awam Morcha leader Jitan Ram Manjhi and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy were sworn in as ministers. The LJP’s Chirag Paswan and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary got one seat each in the Modi Cabinet 3.0.
Apna Dal Party chief Anupriya Patel took the oath of office.
Notably, the BJP ministers in Modi 2.0 like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, S Jaishankar, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal have also been retained in the new NDA government.
With inputs from agencies
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