Tulla Devender Goud is an Indian politician from the

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (; TDP) is an Indian regional political party operating in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at the state and central level. Since its founding by N. T. Rama Rao (often referred to as NTR) on 29 March 1982, the party has foc ...

. He founded the

Nava Telangana Praja Party Nava Telangana Party (NTPP) was a political party in Andhra Pradesh, India. The party was founded by Tulla Devender Goud to achieve separate statehood for Telangana. The party argued that the people of Telangana were being treated as second clas ...

(NTP) to fight for separate statehood for the

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

region in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, but later returned to his parent outfit. A

backward class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

es leader, he served as a cabinet minister for BC welfare and Prohibition portfolios in

N.T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

's cabinet. He has also worked as a cabinet minister handling Revenue and Home portfolios under

Nara Chandrababu Naidu Nara Chandrababu Naidu ( born 20 April 1950) is an Indian politician and current leader of opposition of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He was also the leader of the opposition of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 2004 to ...

. He was elected three times to the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh from the

Medchal Medchal is a Outer Suburb of Hyderabad in the Medchal–Malkajgiri district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is the mandal headquarters of Medchal mandal in Keesara revenue division of the district. It also forms a part of Hyderabad Metropol ...

assembly constituency as a representative of the

(TDP). He was a TDP politbureau member since 1991, deputy leader of TDP legislature party in the AP legislative assembly and was considered number two leader, next only to Nara Chandrababu Naidu in TDP before he resigned to fight for separate statehood of the Telangana state.

Personal details

Tulla Devender Goud was born in 18 March 1953 at Thukkuguda village of the

Maheswaram Maheswaram is a village in Ranga Reddy district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Maheswaram mandal of Kandukur revenue division A Revenue division is an administrative division of some of the States and union territories of Ind ...

mandal, in the

Rangareddy district Ranga Reddy district ( R. R. district) is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district headquarters is located at Lakdikapool, Hyderabad. The district was named after the former deputy chief minister of the United Andhra Pradesh, K ...

of Telangana, to Tulla Sayanna Goud and Sathemma. He earned his bachelor's degree in commerce from Badruka college at

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, Telangana. He married Vinoda in 1978, and together they had three sons Vijayender, Vinayender, and Veerender Goud.

Political career

Goud was elected as a student leader while at college. He then joined N.T. Rama Rao's new political party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and was elected Chairman of the Zilla Parishad for the Rangareddy district. He became the TDP candidate for Medchal assembly constituency six months prior to the scheduled elections of 1994 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, and was elected as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) for that constituency in 1994. Goud became a member of Rao's cabinet with responsibility for three independent portfolios: Backward Classes welfare, Co-operation, and Total Prohibition. He became Revenue Minister in Nara Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet after the latter rebelled against Rao in 1995. He was re-elected as MLA for Medchal in 1999 with a margin of over 77,000 votes. Subsequently, he became minister for Home, Jails, Fire services, NCC, Sainik Welfare, Film Development Corporation and Cinematography in Naidu's cabinet. In 2004 he won a record-third term from the Medchal constituency, despite a statewide wave of anti-incumbency against the TDP government, as well as in favour of a separate Telangana state. The TDP lost those elections to the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

(INC), and Goud was appointed as TDP deputy leader in the legislative assembly. Subsequently, there were problems perceived in the Telangana regions by the diversion of water from the

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and

Godavari The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...

rivers to other areas, and by the manner in which the INC sidelined its election promise to separate Telangana as an independent state. Furthermore, there were sales of public lands in the Telangana region and there was a lack of representation for the people of the region people in the local job market, including in administrative and bureaucratic posts. Goud believed that Telangana leaders should fight against these perceived injustices and organized a ''padayatra'' (procession on foot) from Pranahitha to Chevella in protest. This was well received in Telangana and forced the TDP to support the idea of separate Telangana statehood in the May 2008 by-elections. Following the by-elections the TDP retreated from its promise of separate statehood and instead constituted a committee to decide the issue. Goud now thought that both the INC and TDP were procrastinating and were not particularly in favour of the idea, so he resigned from his legislative assembly seat and from the TDP in June 2008 in protest. He then organized a Telangana Sadhana Samithi discussion with scholars and professors from the Telangana regions to discuss future action. This meeting was attended by 3000 delegates including Praja Gayakudu Gaddar,

Konda Laxman Bapuji Konda Laxman Bapuji (27 September 1915 – 21 September 2012) was an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the Telangana Rebellion and Telangana activist. He fought for the statehood of Telangana all his life. Early life Bapuji was born in ...

, Mallepalli Laxmaiah and Tirumali. On 9 July 2008 he organized a convention of Telangana students at

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farman to establish OSMANIA UNIVERSITY on the day of 28 August 1918. It ...

to explain his resignation from the TDP and his plans to lead non-violent agitation for statehood. He stressed the importance of participation of students in fighting for the statehood of Telangana without violence as happened between 1967 and 1971. On 11 July 2008 Goud announced a new political party, the

, to fight for Telangana statehood. However, it was soon decided to merge this with the

Praja Rajyam Party The Praja Rajyam Party was a political party in India. Formation The first public meeting was held by Chiranjeevi on 26 August 2008, at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. He addressed a gathering of about a million people and announced the party name ...

. While the official reason for the merger is said to be common ideology of the two parties—social justice and separate Telangana, the reality is that Goud has been finding it difficult to run the party as it had failed to create the kind of impact he expected before he quit TDP on 23 June 2008 therefore watching out for his political future the decision was made about the merger. Goud lost both the parliamentary and assembly elections in 2009. Then, on 3 August 2009, Goud resigned from the Praja Rajyam Party and announced that he would rejoin the TDP. In 2012, he was elected to the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

as a TDP candidate.

Positions held

# Chairman - Ranga Reddy District Zilla Parishad 1988-93 #

MLA 1994- 99, 1999-2003 and 2003 – 2008 # Minister for Backward Classes Welfare, Prohibition and Excise, Cooperation 1994 - 1995 # Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation, 1995 - 1999 # Minister for Home and Cinematography, 1999 – 2004 # Deputy Leader, Telugu Desam Legislature Party , Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Pradesh 2004 – 2008 # Member of Parliament - Rajya Sabha April 2012 - May 2018 ; # May 2012 – May 2014 Member, Committee on Defence Member, Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes # May 2012 – May 2014 and March 2015 onwards Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs # May 2012 onwards Member, General Purposes Committee Aug. 2012 # May 2014 Member, Parliamentary Forum on Water Conservation and Management July 2013 # Nominated to the Panel of Vice-Chairmen, Rajya Sabha Sept. 2014 # Aug 2016 Member, Committee on Railways # Sept. 2014 onwards Member, Committee on Rules # Oct. 2014 onwards Member, Committee on Ethics # March 2015 Member, Select Committee of Rajya Sabha on the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill # 2015 Dec to 2015-Aug 2016 Member, Select Committee on the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill # 2013 Sept - 2016 Member, Committee on Rural Development # March 2017 onwards Member, General Purposes Committee

References

External References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goud, Devender 1953 births Living people Home Ministers of Andhra Pradesh Members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly People from Ranga Reddy district Praja Rajyam Party politicians Rajya Sabha members from Telangana Telangana district councillors Telugu Desam Party politicians Telugu politicians