‘Rajni of Rajya Sabha’un likely to make are turn
She once shocked everyone by saying that And hr a Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandra babu Naidu looks like a pick pocket standing at a bus stand and described film star-turned-politician Jay a Pr ada as a“bimbo ”. She had dared police men to arrest her and waged a war against the media.
Telugu Des am Party( T DP) founder and former And hr a Pradesh chief minister NT Rama Rao, widely known as NTR, once described her as the“only man in T DP ”.“Rani Ru dram ma Devi ”,“Revolver Ra ni” and “Raj ni of Raj ya S ab ha” are the titles that the people of And hr a Pradesh have best owed on her. It was due to her“devil-may-care” attitude that she was expelled twice from the TDP. That’s Renuka Chowdhury. Born in V isak ha pat na min 1954 into the family of an air commander, she got the opportunity to live in different parts of the country, learn several languages and understand various cultures.
She did her schooling from Punjab, passed Class 10 from New Delhi and went onto study further in Chen na ia nd Bengal ur u.S he holds a diploma in marketing management, public relations and advertising. At the age of 21, she married S rid h ar Chowdary, a businessman from Hyderabad. The couple has two daughters.
Re nuka began her political career as a corp orator from Banjara Hills, a posh area in Hyderabad. She joined the TDP in 1984 and was a Raj ya S ab ha member for two terms —198489and1992-98.
In 1993, she fought a by election from the Pan yam Assembly constituency when Congress leader and then chief minister Kotla Vijayabh ask ar Reddy con tested to fulfil the constitutional obligation. She could not succeed. In 1994, she developed differences with NTR. When she campaigned against NT R in his Hi nd up ur constituency, he expelled her from the party and wrote to the then Raj ya S ab ha chairman, requesting him to suspend her. From her expulsion to the end of the term, she remained a member of separate party TDP-2, formed by her.
After NT R’ s death in 1996, Re nu kare turned to the TD P and serve as the minister for health and family welfare in the IK Gujral government at the Centre.
When she was denied a third term in the Raj ya S ab ha in 1998 and actor-turned-politician Jay a Pr ada was nominated in her place, she turned her ire on Chandra babu Naidu and questioned his decision to join hands with the B ha ra ti ya Jan at a Party( B JP ). Na i du expelled her from the TD P for“in discipline ”.
She then joined the Congress and contested from the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency in 1999. She was one of the only five Congress candidates from And hr a Pradesh to be elected to the Lok Sabha. She won from K ha mm am despite a three-corner contest.
When the Congress came to power at the Centre in 2004, she was first made the minister of state for tourism and then minister for women and child development. It was in this capacity that she announced, amongotherthings, a“PubBharo Andolan” after fringe groups like Pr a mod Muthalik’s Sri Ram Se ne in Man galore“banned” women from going to pubs.
In 2012, she was re-elected to the Raj ya S ab ha for a third term–which ends in a few weeks. There is talk that she may decide to quit the House a month ahead of the end of her term on grounds that she was the victim of as exist insult by Prime Minister Na rend ra Mo di. It will be tough for her to return to the Upper House from either Te lang ana or AP, where the Congress’ presence has dwindled. But neither House will forget Renuka Chowdhury.
It will be tough for her to return to the Upper House from either Telangana or Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress’ presence has dwindled