Bandi Sanjay Kumar: From Grassroots Activist to Union Minister
Hyderabad: The firebrand BJP leader Bandi Sanjay Kumar, credited with reviving the party’s fortunes in the state when it has just one legislator, was amply rewarded by the party leadership with a berth in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third Cabinet.
Sanjay in the recent elections retained the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, winning with a margin of over 2.25 lakh votes.
Sanjay was the vehicle incharge when BJP leder L.K. Advani embarked on his rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, that laid the foundation for the party’s agitation for a Ram temple.
The 52-year-old Sanjay hails from the powerful Munnuru Kapu community of the Backward Classes. He served as the youngest president of Telangana BJP from 2020 to 2023. His term was the most turbulent in the recent history of BJP, as he took out several movements and rallies against the then-ruling BRS and recorded impressive wins for the party.
This included a statewide padayatra in five phases as well as intense protests over the leakage of exam question papers under the then BRS government.
The BJP made record gains in the GHMC elections and stood second, its tally going up from four to 44 seats. During his tenure as BJP state president, the party, against all odds, won the byelections to the Dubbak and Huzurnagar Assembly constituencies, lifting the morale of the party and strengthening it for the battles ahead.
He has been associated RSS right from his childhood days. Later he joined ABVP, the student wing of the BJP and served as convener of the Karimnagar city unit. Sanjay started his political career as a BJP corporator in the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation, where he was elected twice.
Sanjay was director of the Karimnagar Cooperative Bank for two terms in 1994 and 1999. Later, he was appointed BJP president for the Karimnagar unit.
Sanjay was elected for the first time to the Lok Sabha in 2019 by over 96,000 votes, when the party won four parliamentary seats from the state.
He has serving as member of several parliamentary committees including on OBC welfare, on urban development, as well as member of the Tobacco Board and the Airports of Authorities of India.
After Sanjay was replaced as state unit president, the party appointed him as general secretary in 2023. His wife Bandi Aparna still serves with the State Bank of India. Their two children, Sai Bhagirath and Sai Sumukh, are pursuing higher education.