Duddilla Sridhar Babu (born 30 May 1969)[5] is an Indian politician from Indian National Congress and is a member of the Telangana Assembly from Manthani Constituency, Peddapalli district which he won for the fifth time as MLA in December 2023. He is a senior Minister in the Telangana Government holding the crucial portfolios of Information Technology, Electronics & Communication, Industry & Commerce and Legislative Affairs.[6] Sridhar Babu is one of the senior most leaders in the Telangana Congress Party, and was an AICC All India Congress Committee Secretary attached to the AICC General Secretary, in charge of Karnataka[7] from July 2022 to August 2024. He was the Minister for Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs, Legal Metrology, and Legislative Affairs in the United Government of Andhra Pradesh prior to that state being divided.[8]
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Background
editDuddilla Sridhar Babu[9][10] is the fourth of six children of former Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the Indian National Congress politician Sri D. Sripada Rao. He graduated with B.A.L.L.B. from the University of Delhi, and M. A. Political Science from University of Hyderabad. Babu was a practicing lawyer at Andhra Pradesh High Court before entering politics in 1999 following the assassination of his father by Naxalites. At that time he decided that it was incumbent on him to continue the work of his father in the Manthani constituency and more specifically in the Karimnagar district in which it is situated.[11][12]
A keen cricketer as a student — he represented Nizam College and the University of Hyderabad — Sridhar Babu is married to Ms Shailaja Ramaiyer, an officer in the Indian Administrative Service of the Telangana Cadre, while being a MLA. The couple have two children.
Career
editSridhar Babu is known for carrying out developmental works in the Backward region of Manthani ever since he became a Member of the Legislative Assembly and is believed to be always close to the people of the region.
First term (1999–2004)
editSridhar Babu won on the Congress ticket from Manthani in the 1999 elections, though his Congress party was relegated to sitting in the opposition. He defeated his nearest rival Chandrupatla Ram Reddy by a margin of over 15,000 votes.[13]
Second term (2004–2009)
editBy the time Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy undertook his padayatra in 2003, Sridhar Babu was the Karimnagar district party president.[14] In the 2004 elections, in which the Congress Party gained power, he defeated the TDP candidate, Somarapu Satyanarayana, by a margin of 42,560 votes.[15] He became a Government Whip in the 12th Telangana.[16]
Third term (2009–2014)
editHe was re-elected in the 2009 Assembly Elections defeating Putta Madhu of the erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party by a margin of over 13,000 votes.[17] He was the only Congress MLA to be re-elected in 2009 from Karimnagar district, amidst a strong showing from an alliance of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telugu Desam Party.[citation needed]
Babu was appointed a member of Y. S. Reddy's cabinet in May 2009[12] as minister for Higher Education and NRI affairs. After serving the ministry for 1.5 years he moved to the Civil Supplies and Legislative affairs ministry in Kiran Kumar Reddy's cabinet.[citation needed] He resigned from the cabinet on 2 January 2014 after Reddy divested him of his Legislative Affairs portfolio when the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, which concerns the creation of a separate Telangana state, was being discussed in the Assembly.[18]
Fourth term (2018–2023)
editSridhar Babu won a hard-fought election in 2018,[19] and won with a majority of 16,230 votes against his TRS rival.[20] The Telangana CM KCR had called for an early election in September 2018 by dissolving the assembly a good 8 months before its tenure throwing the opposition parties into a tizzy.[21] The Congress party had high hopes of dethroning the ruling TRS and allied itself with the TDP, TJS and CPI to forge a grand alliance. However, the TRS rode back to power and Sridhar Babu was one of the only 19 MLAs who won on the Congress party ticket.
Fifth term (2023-)
editThe Congress party launched a comprehensive campaign and AICC leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi campaigned in Telangana and Smt. Sonia Gandhi addressed a mega rally in the run up to the Telangana election where she announced 6 guarantees.[22] Basis the 6 guarantees, the party prepared a robust Manifesto which was spearheaded by Sridhar babu [23] Sridhar Babu contesting for the 6th time as MLA from Manthani, and as only one of the 5 sitting MLAs from the Congress party in Telangana ran a well planned election campaign focusing on the promises made by the Congress party in its manifesto and the 6 guarantees announced to achieve a Samajika Telangana (Social Telangana)-which was based on Social justice and Inclusive politics, to counter the Bangaru Telangana ( Golden Telangana) claim by BRS. In the end, he won with a handsome margin of 31380 votes[24] inflicting a defeat on Putta Madhukar of the ruling BRS for the third time. The state witnessed a stunning defeat of the ruling BRS which had to contend only with 39 seats, and the Congress party romped home with a simple majority of 64 seats.[25]
Government of Telangana
editD Sridhar Babu was sworn in as a Minister in the Government of Telangana on 7 December 2023 along with 11 other ministers including CM Revanth Reddy and Dy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka [26]
He is currently holding the portfolio of Information Technology, Electronics & Communication, Industry & Commerce and Legislative Affairs.[6][27][28]
Election statistics
edit| Year | Contested For | Party | Constituency | Opponent | Votes | Majority | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1999 | Assembly election | INC | Manthani | Chandrupatla Ram Reddy (TDP) | 65884 - 50613 | 15271 | Won [29] | |
| 2 | 2004 | Somarapu Satyanarayana (TDP) | 79318-36758 | 42560 | Won [30] | ||||
| 3 | 2009 | Putta madhu (PRAP) | 63770-50561 | 13209 | Won [31] | ||||
| 4 | 2014 | Putta madhu (TRS) | 64677 - 84037 | -19360 | Lost [32] | ||||
| 5 | 2018 | Putta madhu (TRS) | 89045 - 72815 | 16230 | Won [19] | ||||
| 6 | 2023 | Putta madhu (BRS) | 103822 - 72442 | 31380 | Won [33] | ||||
Offices held
edit| Office | Organization | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary, Coordination Committee | Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee | (2014–2015) |
| Chairman, Manifesto Committee [34] | Telangana Pradesh Election Committee | (2014–2014) |
| Minister for Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs, Legal Metrology | Government of Andhra Pradesh | (2010-2014) |
| Minister for Legislative Affairs | Government of Andhra Pradesh | (2010 - 2014) |
| In Charge District Minister and Chairman DRC(District Review Committee)[35] | Ranga Reddy District, Andhra Pradesh | (2009-2014) |
| Minister for Higher Education and NRI Affairs | Government of Andhra Pradesh | (2009-2010) |
| President | District Congress Committee, Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh | (2004-2012) |
| Board Member | Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh | (2004-2006) |
| Government Whip | 12th Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly | (2004-2009) |
| Chairman | Cricket Association of Telangana, CAT | (2014–2016) |
| Vice president | Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee [36] | (2016–2021) |
| Secretary | All India Congress Committee [7] | (2022–Till date) |
| Minister for IT, E&C, Industries & Commerce, Legislative Affairs | Government of Telangana | (2023–Till date) |
References
edit- ^ a b "Here's the full list of ministers in Revanth Reddy's Telangana Cabinet". 7 December 2023.
- ^ "Telangana effect: Andhra minister Sridhar Babu quits Kiran Reddy ministry over portfolio rejig". 2 January 2014.
- ^ "YSR constitutes 35-member Cabinet, drops four ministers". 26 May 2009.
- ^ "Manthani Assembly Constituency Election Result - Legislative Assembly Constituency".
- ^ "About Sridhar Babu". SridharBabu Official Website.
- ^ a b "Telangana Ministers' Portfolios".
- ^ a b "AICC Secretaries". The Hindu. The Hindu Online. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "Council of Ministers". Government of Andhra Pradesh. October 2013. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ^ Duddilla, Sridhar babu. "Sridhar Babu Official Website". dsridharbabu.com/.
- ^ "List of MLAs". Government of Andhra Pradesh. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ Ahmed, Inkeshaf (21 September 2012). "Robed minister of Kiran's team". Postnoon. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Andhra Pradesh News : Manthani fields a Minister after PV". The Hindu. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Cong. wants Nellore renamed". The Hindu. 28 January 2003. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Whips". AP Legislature. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Andhra Pradesh Minister Sridhar Babu resigns over portfolio rejig". NDTV.com. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ^ a b "Telangana General Legislative Election 2018 - Statistical Report".
- ^ "Manthani Election Result 2018 Live Updates: Duddilla Sridhar Babu of INC Wins - News18". Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ "KCR Keeps Date with 'Lucky 6', Dissolves Telangana Assembly and Calls for Early Polls". Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ "Congress announces 6 guarantees=18 Sep 2023". 18 September 2023.
- ^ "D Sridhar Babu is Manifesto Chairman of TPCC=4 Oct 2023". 4 October 2023.
- ^ "D Sridhar Babu wins from Manthani=4 Dec 2023".
- ^ "Congress ends BRS Rule in Telangana=4 Dec 2023".
- ^ "Telangana Ministers list=7 Dec 2023". 7 December 2023.
- ^ The Hindu (9 December 2023). "Portfolios allocated to Ministers in the new Telangana Cabinet". Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ India Today (9 December 2023). "Revanth Reddy assigns portfolios to 11 ministers in Telangana Cabinet: Full list". Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh 1999".
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh 2004".
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh 2009".
- ^ "Andhra Pradesh 2014".
- ^ "Telangana AE 2023".
- ^ "Congress releases poll manifesto for Telangana". 12 April 2014.
- ^ "Water Board, GHMC chiefs caught off guard". The Hindu. February 2012.
- ^ "Sonia approves TPCC body". 17 April 2016.