My father was against my entry into politics: KTR

I was intrigued by a thought provoking wall writing I read on the JNU campus, and decided to join politics, says the Minister

Sangareddy: IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday gave rare insights into how he plunged into politics, much against the wishes of his father, K Chandrashekhar Rao, who is now Chief Minister of Telangana State.

“My father wanted me to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and I was sent to New Delhi to prepare and write the Union Public Service Commission exam. It was during that time when I was hanging out with some more IAS aspirants at JNU in New Delhi that I came across a wall writing in the campus that read “when everything is decided by politics, you better decide what your future politics are’, and I was intrigued by it,” the Minister said during an interaction with students of Master of Public Policy (MPP) at GITAM University campus at Rudraram in Sangareddy district.

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Rama Rao said the wall writing provoked his thoughts and made him realise that political awareness among people was a very important factor. “Every citizen must have political awareness and I realised it then,” he said.

Stating that he subsequently travelled to the US to pursue his Masters, the Minister said he returned to India in 2004 to head the South Asia operations of a Multinational Company in Mumbai. “My entry into politics was without my father’s knowledge in 2006 when he (Chandrashekhar Rao) resigned as Union Minister in protest againt the delay in carving out a separate Telangana State. I started out as a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) worker,” he said, adding that since he knew his father would oppose his entry into politics, he started working in the party without his knowledge.

Appreciating the management of GITAM University for coming up with such a wonderful course on public policy through Kautilya School of Public Policy, the Minister underlined the importance of people gaining basic knowledge of the political set up. Since every decision taken by the State and Central governments will impact every citizen all through, it is very important that people are aware of politics, he said.

The Minister appreciated the students for joining the course and prepare to be part of the system. “I have visited many educational institutes, even IITs, but never visited a school on public policy till today. I am very happy to see such a school in Hyderabad,” he said.

Managing Director of GITAM University M Sri Bharat presided over the interactive session.

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