It was celebrations all the way at the State party office of the Bharatiya Janata Party and people fell over themselves to congratulate Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on his appointment as Maharashtra Governor.
The flurry of activity overshadowed the meeting convened to mark the visit to the party office of Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Kalraj Mishra, his first to the State after becoming a Union Minister.
Known for being a jovial man, he went on to say that when he saw all the people waiting with bouquets, he thought they had come for him. “Only when I came into the meeting hall did I see that you were all here to congratulate Mr. Rao,” he said, with a good-natured laugh that drew applause.
But on a serious note, he said now that people had elected the BJP to power and stood behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is the responsibility of party cadres and leaders to safeguard the faith that voters had reposed in them.
BJP’s Telangana State president G. Kishan Reddy said it’s a great day for the party here when Mr. Vidyasagar Rao was named Maharashtra Governor and that it coincided with Mr. Mishra’s visit. The presence of former Sikkim Governor V. Rama Rao made it happier because Mr. Vidyasagar Rao is now the second BJP leader to be given a gubernatorial responsibility, he said.
Karimnagar Staff Reporter writes: The party Karimnagar district unit is in celebratory mood on Mr. Rao’s appointment.
Party leaders took to the streets to celebrate the occasion by distributing sweets and bursting of crackers. Born on February 4 in 1942 in the interior Nagaram village of Konaraopeta mandal, Mr. Vidyasagar Rao, popularly known as ‘Sagarji’ in the district, is the youngest son of Ch. Srinivas Rao and Chandramma. He completed his schooling in Vemulawada and PUC in Hyderabad and B Sc in Nanded, Maharashtra. Later, he completed his LLB from Osmania University and started practicing law from 1973.
He went to jail during the emergency period. He joined politics as member from Jan Sangh. He was the party legislator from the Metpally Assembly segment from 1985 to 1998. He entered Parliament by winning from Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency in 1998 and in 1999.
He was BJP floor leader in the Assembly and also occupied the post of the State party president.
After his election as MP in 1999, he became the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Cabinet of Atal Behari Vajpayee government. Later, his portfolio was changed to Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.
Mr. Rao was instrumental in the completion and operation of a train service from Peddapalli to Karimnagar town during his tenure as MP. He was also instrumental in discouraging the youth from joining Left-wing extremism by showing the path of devotion by constructing huge Lord Hanuman idols in various villages in the district.
When crisis was looming large in Sircilla textile town with weavers dying of starvation, Mr. Rao operated a ‘langar’ (serving of food) for about two months through his Chandramma memorial charitable trust in Sircilla town. He also crusaded for the utilisation of surplus waters of the Godavari in the district.
