Governor C Vidyasagar Rao: Seven things to know about the kingmaker of Tamil Nadu
NEW DELHI: The power struggle in AIADMK, following the death of J. Jayalalithaa, seems to have finally turned the focus on Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, who is also acting Governor for Tamil Nadu, as his absence from Chennai has led to speculation on the Centre’s role in the state politics.
Rao is expected to take a call on the developments in Tamil Nadu today. Here are five things to know about him:
1. After starting as an ABVP activist, he became a Jan Sangh leader who was thrice elected to the undivided Andhra Pradesh assembly and later to the Lok Sabha.
2. He belongs to the dominant Velamma community and hails from a very influential family in Karimnagar of northern Telangana. Former CPI general secretary Rajeshwar Rao and former Planning Commission member Hanumantha Rao are his brothers.
3. As an ABVP activist, he was elected president of the Osmania University students union, where he opposed extreme Leftwing activists. BJP leaders familiar with his early life say that he survived a bid on his life by Naxalites in the early 70s but didn’t give up his commitment to saffron politics.
4. He was elected Andhra Pradesh BJP president in 90s. Rao, like most politicians from the area, espoused statehood for Telangana. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 and in 1999 and served as a minister of state for home affairs under LK Advani.
5. Rao lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections in Karimnagar to TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is now the Telangana chief minister.
6. He is known as a simple and noble fellow, according to a BJP leader who knew him when he was MoS in the Vajpayee government.
7. Given his steadfast commitment to the saffron ideology, the BJP is certain that he would not take a false step and hit the BJP, which is trying to gain roots in the state.
Rao is expected to take a call on the developments in Tamil Nadu today. Here are five things to know about him:
1. After starting as an ABVP activist, he became a Jan Sangh leader who was thrice elected to the undivided Andhra Pradesh assembly and later to the Lok Sabha.
2. He belongs to the dominant Velamma community and hails from a very influential family in Karimnagar of northern Telangana. Former CPI general secretary Rajeshwar Rao and former Planning Commission member Hanumantha Rao are his brothers.
3. As an ABVP activist, he was elected president of the Osmania University students union, where he opposed extreme Leftwing activists. BJP leaders familiar with his early life say that he survived a bid on his life by Naxalites in the early 70s but didn’t give up his commitment to saffron politics.
4. He was elected Andhra Pradesh BJP president in 90s. Rao, like most politicians from the area, espoused statehood for Telangana. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 and in 1999 and served as a minister of state for home affairs under LK Advani.
5. Rao lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections in Karimnagar to TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is now the Telangana chief minister.
6. He is known as a simple and noble fellow, according to a BJP leader who knew him when he was MoS in the Vajpayee government.
7. Given his steadfast commitment to the saffron ideology, the BJP is certain that he would not take a false step and hit the BJP, which is trying to gain roots in the state.
