Kotagiri Vidhyadher Rao (April 28 1946 – 20 July 2013) was an Indian politician and a MLA and Minister. He was a five time MLA from

Eluru district Eluru district is a district in coastal Andhra Region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With Eluru as its administrative headquarters, it was proposed on 26 January 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty six districts in the state once ...

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 ...

. He was in TDP, PRP (which joined Congress).

Early life

He was born in Thurpu Edavalli village in

Eluru Eluru is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 14 municipal corporations in the state and the mandal headquarters of Eluru mandal in the Eluru revenue division. The city ...

, West Godavari,

Career

Kotagiri Vidyadhara Rao began his political career as a village

sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

. He served as MLA from the Chintalapudi assembly constituency for five terms and served as a Minister of the State in both N T Rama Rao and

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 ...

cabinets. He joined Praja Rajyam in 2009 and was political affairs committee member. He was a key aide to actor-turned-politician

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu language, Telugu, as ...

. He served in the following positions: 1978: Chairman - Agricultural Market Committee, Chintalapudi 1981: Vice President - Panchayat Samithi, Chintalapudi 1983: MLA, Chintalapudi - elected as an Independent, later joined Telugu Desam Party in Oct. 1983 1985 - 1999: Re-elected as MLA, Chintalapudi 1984: Chairman - AP Industries Infrastructure Corp. 1985: Director - AP Industries Development Corp., Director- AP Kadhi & Village Industries Board 1987: Director - AP State Road Transport Corp., Chairman Shatavahana Region, APSRTC 1987 - 1989: Chairman Public Undertakings Committee, AP Legislature 1989: Deputy Leader of Opposition 1991 - 1994: Leading the Opposition after Shri NT Rama Rao announced that he would not attend Assembly for the ill treatment, extended by the Govt. on the Floor of the House 1994: Appointed Minister for Agriculture (

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 List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

cabinet) 1995 - 1996: Appointed Minister for Panchayat Raj Rural Development & Rural Water Supply (

cabinet) 1996 - 1999: Minister for Agriculture ( N. Chandrababu Naidu cabinet) 1999 - 2004: Minister for Large scale Industries ( N. Chandrababu Naidu cabinet)

Death

He died in his home in

from a cardiac arrest on 20 July 2013.

Personal life

Vidhyadher Rao was married, had a son (Sridhar Kotagiri) and a daughter (Anitha Ponnala) and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Kotagiri Vidyadhara 1946 births 2013 deaths Telugu politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh People from Eluru People from West Godavari district category:Praja Rajyam Party politicians Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1983–1985 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1985–1989 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1989–1994 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1994–1999 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1999–2004