Jagan Cabinet 2.0 - Profiles of 25 Ministers

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy: Keeping his promise of reshuffling the Cabinet, CM Jagan established Cabinet 2.0 with a combination of old and new ministers. The CM gave top priority to BC, SC, ST and minority in the Cabinet 2.0 by offering 17 minister posts (68% per cent) out of a total of 25.

Dr Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy (OC); Age: 70; Education: PhD

He was unanimously elected president of the Sri Venkateswara University Student Union in 1974. He contested from Pileru as a Janata Party candidate in 1978 and as a Congress candidate in 1985 and 1994 and lost.  He won as an MLA in 1989, 1999 and 2004 and from Punganur in 2009.  He joined the YSR Congress and won from Punganur in 2014 and 2019.  He served as a minister in the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, K. Rosaiah and Jagan Mohan Reddy governments. This is his second term.

Dr Adimulapu Suresh (SC): Age: 58; Education: M Tech, PhD.

Dr Suresh took voluntary retirement as deputy financial adviser in the railways and entered politics.  In 2009, from the Yarragondapalem as an MLA from the Congress. And in 2014 on a YSRC ticket from Santhanuthalapadu.  In 2019, he again won from Yarragondapalem on behalf of the YSRC and served as education minister. This is his second term.

Kalathoor Narayanaswamy (SC): Age 73, Education: BSc

Narayanaswamy was unanimously elected Annur sarpanch upon his entry into politics.  In 1983 he won the presidency of the Karvetinagaram Samithi.  In 2004, as a Congress candidate won from the Satyavedu constituency and lost in 2009.  He joined YSRC and won in 2014 and 2019 from Gangadhara Nellore constituency with huge margins.

Ch Srinivasa Venugopalakrishna (BC), Age: 60, Education: BSc

Venugopalakrishna started his political career as Razole ZPTC from 2001 to 2006 from the Congress.  He later served as the president of the East Godavari Zilla Parishad for five years. Joining the YSRC,  he lost from Kakinada Rural. In 2019, be won from the Ramachandrapuram constituency.

Botsa Satyanarayana (BC), Age: 64, Education: BA

Satyanarayana started as a student body leader in 1978 and was in the Congress for long. He was Chairman of the Vizianagaram District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB) twice from 1992 to 1999.  He lost the 1996 polls from the Bobbili Lok Sabha constituency but won in 1999.  In 2004 and 2009, he won from the Cheepurupalli Assembly constituency but lost in 2014.  He joined the YSRC and won in 2019. He as served as a minister in the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, K. Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy governments.

Taneti Vanitha (SC); Age: 49, Education: MSc

Vanitha is the daughter of twice-time MLA Jonnakooti Babajirao. She Joined the YSRC in 2013 and lost the 2014 Assembly elections but won in 2019. In the first cabinet of the YSRC government, she was minister for women's development and child welfare.

Buggana Rajendranath (OC); Age: 52, Education: BTech

Rajendranath's grandfather B.V. Sesha Reddy served as Dhone MLA in 1955 and his father Ramanatha Reddy was Chairman of the Granthralaya Society and sarpanch.  Rajendranath worked as a sarpanch twice from 1995 to 2006.   In 2014, he was elected to the Assembly from Dhone and won a second term in the 2019 elections and served as finance minister in the first YSRC Cabinet.

Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao (BC); Age: 57; Education: SSC

Nageswara Rao joined the Congress in 2004 and was elected a member of the Dwarakathirumala ZPTC. He later became its Chairman. In 2009, he won as Tanuku MLA. He defected to the YSRC and lost the Dendulur seat.  He contested from Tanuku again in 2019 and won.

Gummanooru Jayaram (BC), Age: 54; Education: SSC

In 2009, Jayaram he contested as an MLA from Alur on behalf of the Prajarajyam Party and lost.  He joined the YSRC in 2011 and won twice as MLA from Alur in 2014 and 2019.  He was minister of labour in the outgoing Cabinet.

Jogi Ramesh (BC); Age: 52; Education: BSc

Ramesh started off with the Congress and was the regional chairman of the Vijayawada RTC in undivided Andhra Pradesh and a member of the Railway Board.  In 2009, won from Pedana on a Congress ticket. In 2014, as a YSRC candidate he lost from Mylavaram. He won the Pedana seat in 2019.

Dr Sidiri Appalaraju (BC); Age: 42 years; Education: MBBS

Dr Appalaraju is from a family without a political background.  In 2017, Dr Appalaraju, who hails from the fisherman community, joined the YSRC. He won in 2019 and was made minister. He is a state ranker, taking the second rank in APRJC and 13th rank in Eamcet.

Gudivada Amarnath (OC)l; Age: 37; Education: BTech

Amarnath is the son of Gudivada Gurunath Rao, who served as MP and minister of state.  At the age of 21, Amarnath won as Visakhapatnam GVMC corporator on a TD in 2007.  He joined the YSRC but lost the 2014 elections. In 2019, he won from Anakapalli.

Sheikh Bepari Amjad Basha (Minority); Age: 50; Education: Degree (not completed)

Basha won his first election for the Kadapa Municipal Corporation in 2005. He was elected Kadapa MLA on a YSRC ticket in 2014. He was re-lected in 2019 and served as Deputy Chief Minister, a job which he holds in Cabinet 2.0.

Ambati Rambabu (OC); Age: 65; Education: BA, BL

Rambabu started his political career from the Congress.  In 1988, he was elected joint Guntur district legal cell convener, and Won as MLA from Repalle in 1989. He was defeated twice in 1994 and 1999.  He was Chairman of NedCap from 1991 to 1994 and Chairman of APIIC from 2005 to 2007.  He lost to Sattanapalli in 2014 but wrested the seat in 2019.

Pinipe Vishwaroop (SC); Age: 60; Education: BSc, BEd

Vishwroop joined the Congress in 1987. He won from Mummidivaram in 2004 and from Amalapuram in 2009. He was a minister in the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, K. Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinets.  He contested from the Amalapuram Lok Sabha seat in elections and lost. He won the 2019 Assembly elections.

K.V. Usha Sricharan (BC); Age: 46; Education: MSc PhD

The new minister hails from Karnataka and settled in Rayadurg in Anantapur district.  She started her political career with the TDP in 2012, joined the YSRC in 2013 and worked as Kalyandurg constituency coordinator. She  won the 2019 elections from Kalyandurg.

Dharmana Prasada Rao (BC); Age: 65; Education: Intermediate

In 1983, Prasada Rao was elected sarpanch of his hometown Mabugam Panchayat.  In 1989, he won the Narasannapeta constituency as a Congress candidate and worked as minister of handloom, textiles, water resources and ports from 1991-94. He registered hat-trick wins in 1999, 2004, and 2009. Despite losing the 2014 elections, he won again in 2019 and has entered the Cabinet again.

Vidadala Rajini (BC)l Age: 31: BSc

Rajini is a former TD leader who joined the YSRC and won from Chilakaluripet by defeating senior TD leader Prathipati Pulla Rao. She is the first BC candidate to win from the Chilakaluripet constituency.  She was 28 when she won the poll, and has been inducted in the Cabinet.

R.K. Roja (OC); Age: 51; Education: BSc

The new minister entered politics via the Telugu Desam in 1999. In the 2004 and 2009, she contested unsuccessfully as the TD candidate from Nagari and Chandragiri.  She joined YSRC and won from Nagari in 2014 and in 2019.

Meruga Nagarjuna (SC); Age: 58; PhD

Nagarjuna is a former professor at Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. In 2009, he contested as a Congress candidate from Vemur and lost.  He later joined YSRC but lost in 2014 before winning in 2019.

Budi Muthyalanayudu (BC); Age: 60; Education: Intermediate

He won from Madugula as MLA in 2014 and served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.  He won for a second term in 2019 and took over as a government whip.

Kottu Satyanarayana (OC); Age: 67; Education: Intermediate

In 1994 and 1999, he contested as a Congress candidate and lost. He won in 2004 but lost in 2009 to a Republican candidate.  He later joined YSRC and won in 2019 from Tadepalligudem.

Peedika Rajannadora (ST); Age: 58; Education: MA

He resigned as GCC senior manager in 2004 and joined the Congress. He contested from the Congress in 2009 and from YSRC   in 2014 and 2019 and won from Salur

Dadishetti Raja (OC); Age: 45; Education: BA

Raja joined the Prajarajyam Party in 2008 and entered politics anm moved to the YSRC in 2010.  He won elections in 2014 and 2019 from Tuni.

Kakani Govardhan Reddy; Age: 58; Education: PhD

He joined YSRC and won as an MLA from Sarvepalli constituency in 2014 and 2019.