After taking an oath of office on Sunday to join the Narendra Modi-led Cabinet, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party became the youngest Union Minister in history. In the just-ended Lok Sabha elections, the 36-year-old from Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, was elected for a third consecutive term.
Ram Mohan Naidu: The US-Educated Leader
The US-educated leader is continuing his late father’s (K. Yerran Naidu) political tradition as a former Union Minister. Top TDP figure Yerran Naidu held the position of Union Minister for Rural Development in the United Front administration from 1996 to 1998. With a staggering margin of more than 3.27 lakh votes, TDP leader Ram Mohan Naidu, one of the party’s most well-known faces, kept the Srikakulam seat.
The youthful leader, who was born in Srikakulam district on December 18, 1987, is a prominent figure in the TDP, representing north-coastal Andhra Pradesh. He attended Purdue University for his undergraduate studies in electrical engineering before attending Long Island for his master’s work in management.
Following In His Father’s Footsteps
Ram Mohan entered the political sphere in 2012 after Yerran Naidu died in an automobile accident. He made headlines as the second youngest Member of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha when he ran for and won the Srikakulam seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections at the age of 26. Similar to his deceased father, Ram Mohan has a tight relationship with TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu.
As the national general secretary of the TDP, he is regarded as one of Naidu’s most important supporters, as the latter is poised to take over as the state’s chief minister. Ram Mohan and Nara Lokesh, the son of Chandrababu Naidu, were instrumental in Delhi in organizing support for the TDP chairman following his detention in a corruption case last year.
Ram Mohan Naidu: Political Career
Ram Mohan, who speaks Hindi and English well, has developed into a valuable member of the TDP and is always with Chandrababu Naidu when he travels to Delhi. He demonstrated his command of a wide range of topics by serving on several parliamentary committees. The Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food Processing included him as a member.
During the 16th Lok Sabha, he also held memberships in the Standing Committees on Railways and Home Affairs, the Consultative Committee on Ministry of Tourism and Culture, and the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes and Language Department. In 2020, Ram Mohan received the Sansad Ratna award in recognition of his achievements as an MP.
Because of his wife’s pregnancy, he decided to take a paternity leave during the 2021 budget session, which prompted constructive conversations about gender equality and education. Ram Mohan was one of the first Members of Parliament to actively push for the elimination of GST on sanitary pads, in addition to being a strong proponent of sex education and menstrual health education.
In the past ten years, he has also taken a number of steps to promote youth involvement in politics. Almost 175 people have completed virtual or in-person internships with him in his constituency and the Parliament.
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