Sridhar Babu

Duddilla Sridhar Babu
Incumbent
Assumed office November 25, 2010
Preceded by	Jupalli Krishna Rao
Constituency	Manthani constituency, Karimnagar district
Personal details
Born	(1969-05-30) May 30, 1969 Warangal
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Smt Shailaja Ramaiyer IAS
Children	2
Residence	Hyderabad
Religion	Hindu

Duddilla Sridhar Babu (born 30 May 1969) is an Indian Politician and a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly belonging to the Indian National Congress. He is currently the Minister for Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs, Legal Meteorology and Legislative Affairs in the Government of Andhra Pradesh.^[1]

Early life

Sridhar Babu is the third son of ex-speaker of the AP Assembly and veteran congress leader Late Sri D. Sripada Rao and Smt Jayamma. He graduated in Law from the prestigious Delhi University and practiced law at AP High Court,^[2] before plunging into politics at the young age of 29.

Career

Duddilla Sridhar Babu entered politics in 1999 after the untimely demise of his father Duddilla Sripada Rao.Late Sri Sripada Rao was a three time MLA from Manthani in Karimnagar distrcit and served as the speaker of the AP Legislative Assembly from 1989-1994. Sridhar Babu won successive electoral victories in the 1999,2004 and 2009 elections. Sridhar 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.^[3] Sridhar Babu is believed to wield a clean image and an honest reputation of being a leader who is ever helpful to the masses, in the district of Karimnagar.

First Term(1999-2004)

Riding high on a sympathy wave,Sridhar 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 Telugu Desam Party Rival C. Rami Reddy by a margin of over 15,000 votes [^[4]].

Second Term(2004-2009)

By the time YS Rajasekhar Reddy undertook his padayatra in 2003,Sridhar Babu was the Karimnagar district party president and sources claim he was instrumental in the victory of the party candidates from his district in the 2004 elections which swept YSR and the Congress to power. Sridhar Babu again defeated TDP Candidate Somarapu Satyanarayana by a huge margin of 42,560 votes[^[5]].However,with many party stalwarts from Karimnagar winning the polls,Sridhar Babu had to be content in remaining only a MLA.However,recognizing his administrative skills,YSR made him a member of the TTD executive board.He was a Government Whip in the 12th AP Legislative Assembly.

Third Term (2009-Till Date)

He won as MLA in the last 2009 general elections in a tough contest by defeating his once aide turned rival Putta Madhu of the erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) by a margin of over 13000 votes[^[6]]. He is the only senior Congress MLA to get re elected from the Karimnagar district amidst a strong TRS wave, in 2009. Sridhar Babu made his debut in the cabinet of Late YS Rajashekara Reddy as minister for Higher Education and NRI affairs, in 2009. After serving the ministry for 1.5 years he moved to the Civil Supplies and Legislative affairs ministry in Kiran Kumar Reddy's cabinet.

Offices Held

Achievements

• Sridhar Babu is one of the architects of the Rs 1 per kg rice scheme announced by the Kiran Kumar Reddy government recently, in Andhra Pradesh.[^[7]]

• The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, JNTU College of Engineering, Manthani was set up to provide for the advancement of learning and knowledge in Engineering, as JNTUH College of Engineering, Manthani at Karimnagar District, as Constituent College of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad with the infrastructural and financial support of Government of Andhra Pradesh, M/s. Singareni Collieries Company Limited and JNTUH from the academic year 2010-11. The permanent buildings are being constructed at Pannuru, Mulkapalli (Village), Kamanpur Mandal, Manthani Assembly Constituency, i.e., near Centenary Colony, Karimnagar District.Sridhar Babu was instrumental in setting up this college of engineering to cater to the constituency of Manthani.[^[8]][^[9]]

• Developmental Works in Naxal Affected Areas of Karimnagar.Under the IAP programme, the Union government had sanctioned Rs.30 crore. Out of which, Rs.23 crore would be spent in the remote and inaccessible villages of Mahadevpur, Mahamutharam and Kataram mandals in Manthani Assembly segment represented by the Minister.A total of 319 works are being taken up in these three mandals, including the dairy units, Anganwadi centres, internal roads, primary health centre, electricity works, etc.[^[10]]

• Veda school for Rs. 5 crore in Manthani[^[11]]

• Mana Biyyam Scheme launched by the AP Government through the AP Civil Supplies Department [^[12]]

• Cooperative Society Elections- 2012 - Sri Sridhar Babu fighting against all odds of anti-incumbency, T - factor and various other local issues- ensured that the Congress backed candidates won the maximum societies in Karimnagar district [^[13]]

• Amma Hastam - Amma Hastam scheme - 9 essential commodities to be supplied by the State Government at a very reasonable price [^[14]]

Personal life

Sridhar Babu is married to Shailaja Ramaiyer, an IAS officer who is currently the VC&MD of AP Handicrafts Dev Corporation Ltd,Government of Andhra Pradesh. His two elder brothers and two sisters are based out of the United States. His younger brother, Sree Duddilla is the CEO of DES Pvt Ltd based out of Hyderabad.

References