Goka Ramaswamy (1933 – 21 March 2005) was an Indian politician of 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 ...

from undivided

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 ...

. Ramaswamy served as a Minister in the erstwhile state of

from 1978 to 1982 holding various portfolios. He was elected twice to Ghanpur (Station) Assembly constituency of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1978 and 1983 consecutively as a

Congress Party 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 ...

candidate. He was also the Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) between 1983 and 1985 in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly when

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 newly launched

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 ...

(TDP) formed the government for the first time.

Career

Early career

Goka Ramaswamy started his political career as a student leader while he was pursuing his Civil Engineering degree from

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 ...

in the early 1950's. He was elected as Councilor in the

Jangaon Municipality Jangaon Municipality is the civic body that oversees the civic needs of the town of Jangaon in the Indian state of Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch ...

at the age of 24 in the year 1957 and went on to serve until 1967. He also served as ZP Vice Chairman of Warangal District in the late 1960's and early 1970's. He played an imported role in

Congress (Indira) Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) was created in 1969; it was created and led by Indira Gandhi. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress or Syndicate. The letter 'R' st ...

when Congress Party was divided into many factions and was a prominent member of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

's core group. He was also the General Secretary of All India Congress Committee(I) in 1977 and led the Congress Party (Indira) to victory in the

1978 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election The 6th United Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election was held in 1978. It was the sixth election. Indira Gandhi formed new party INC(I). Indian National Congress (I) won 175 seats out of 294 seats. While, JP won 60 seats and Independent c ...

Minister and Member of the Legislative Assembly(MLA)

Ramaswamy was first elected as an MLA from Ghanpur (Station) Assembly constituency in 1978 and was made Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in

Marri Chenna Reddy Dr. Marri Channa Reddy (13 January 1919 – 2 December 1996) was an Indian politician active in several states. He was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1978 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1990. He also served as the governor of Uttar Pradesh ...

's cabinet. Ramaswamy resigned from the Council of Ministers in 1979 due to differences with

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, which created a political crisis in the state government due to which Chenna Reddy had to resign as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and subsequently T. Anjaiah was made the Chief Minister. Ramaswamy served as Minister for Transport, Fisheries and Horticulture Development in T. Anjaiah's cabinet from 1980 to 1982. He was re-elected to Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Ghanpur(Station) in 1983 and was among the few leaders from congress to be elected during the NTR wave. He was made the Deputy Leader of Opposition from the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly during

's first tenure as the Chief Minister. Ramaswamy mentored many young leaders from Warangal District who went on to become Ministers later.

Personal life

Ramaswamy's older brother Goka Ramalingam was an Indian Politician belonging to the

and a three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 1952 to 1967 representing Bhongir constituency in the

Hyderabad Legislative Assembly 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 ...

and Jangaon constituency in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Ramaswamy died at his residence in Hyderabad, in the early hours of 21 March 2005 at the age of 72.

References

{{Reflist Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1978–1983 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1983–1985 Indian National Congress politicians from Telangana Telugu politicians Osmania University alumni State cabinet ministers of Andhra Pradesh People from Warangal 1933 births 2005 deaths