K Chandrashekar Rao Birthday Special: Lesser-known facts about the Telangana CM

Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao also popular as KCR was born on 17 February 1954 to Raghava Rao and Venkatamma in Chintamadaka, Telangana. The current and first chief minister of Telangana ever since the area got separated from Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

He did his M.A. in Literature at Osmania University in Hyderabad.

Rao was interested in politics from a very young age. He first joined the Youth Congress Party, and then the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1983. In his illustrious political career, he has won four consecutive assembly elections from Siddipet.

Telangana is a separate state today because of the continuous efforts of millions led by Rao. He resigned from the TDP in 2001 and founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to fight for statehood for Telangana as he felt that the region was not getting the required attention from the state government at that time.

In 2004, the Congress and TRS formed a coalition after the former promised statehood for Telangana. Rao later withdrew from the alliance as he felt that the Congress was not in a mood to fulfil its promise.

In 2009, Rao started a fast-unto-death, demanding the introduction of Telangana bill in Parliament. After 11 days, the Centre finally agreed to his demands.

On 2 June 2014, Rao became the first ever Chief Minister of Telangana. His focus has been on reviving the rural economy and undertaking development in areas that have remained untouched thus far.

Rao's government made headlines when it carried out the Samagra Kutumba Survey in a single day, collecting information about its citizens, which played a major role in the formulation of welfare policies.

Rao was re-elected as Telangana CM in 2018. The leader has been praised globally for his policies aimed towards uplifting the less fortunate. He won the Agricultural Leadership Award in 2017.

Published on: Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 12:27 PM IST