Parvathaneni Upendra (14 July 1936 – 16 November 2009) was a

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 ...

Union Cabinet Minister from

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was born in

Pothunuru Pothunuru is a village in Denduluru mandal of Eluru district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Demographics Census of India, Pothunuru had a population of 7177. The total population constitute, 3619 males and 3558 females with a sex ratio of 993 fema ...

village in West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh.

Career

P. Upendra holds M. A. degree in English Literature, Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations and Journalism from

Andhra University Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest do ...

, University College, Madras and Indian Institute Public Administration, New Delhi. He started as a journalist after graduation. P. Upendra worked over two decades for Indian Railways as a Public Relations Officer before entering politics. He served as Personal Secretary to then Railways Minister Madhu Dandavate between 1977 and 1979. In 1982, he joined the

(TDP) led by the film actor-turned-politician

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 ...

. He was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1984 and continued as its member till 1996. He was designated as the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the Lok Sabha during the prime ministership of

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

(1984–1989). An articulate politician, Upendra enjoyed cordial relations with many senior political leaders, cutting across party lines, at the national level. This had helped him become convenor of the National Front in 1988. Upendra was the general secretary of the National Front and was minister for information and broadcasting and

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Oxf ...

V. P. Singh Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 – 27 November 2008), shortened to V. P. Singh, was an Indian politician who was the 7th Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990 and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda. He is India's only prime minister to ...

's cabinet. He oversaw the various parliamentary procedures that were essential to the first

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

in India. He was also responsible for enacting the

Prasar Bharati Prasar Bharati (abbreviated as PB; Hindi: ''Praśar Bharati'', lit. Indian Broadcaster) is India's State media, state-owned public broadcaster, headquartered in New Delhi. It is a Statutory corporation, statutory autonomous body set up by an A ...

Act 1990. Together with

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the 22nd Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. He was a member of Lok Sabha for over 30 years, starting f ...

he attempted to negotiate with RSS chief Madhukar Deoras on the Rath Yathra of

L. K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...

, but this was unsuccessful. He was expelled from the TDP in March 1992 following differences with N. Chandrababu Naidu. After exit, Upendra spent a couple of years as an "unattached" member in the Rajya Sabha before formally joining Congress in 1994. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

in 1996 and re-elected in 1998. P. Upendra, was more or less idle since 1999. He consistently maintained a stance opposing the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

and parties like the TDP under

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 ...

that had allied with it. He quit ruling Congress party in November 2008 to join 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 ...

(PRP) floated by 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 ...

. While joining the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), he had said that the Congress leadership did not use his services either at the national level or in the state. Mr. Upendra was instrumental in getting the first escalator in South Central Railway at

Vijayawada Junction railway station Vijayawada Junction railway station (station code:- BZA) is an Indian Railways station in Vijayawada of Andhra Pradesh, categorized as a ''Non-Suburban Grade-2 (NSG-2)'' station in Vijayawada railway division. Situated at the junction of Howra ...

. He also got Doordarshan Kendra for the city and paved the way for the removal of the Satyanarayanapuram railway track. Upendra wrote a book ''Gatam Swagatam'' in two parts listing his political experience.

Personal life

Upendra married Vasundhara in 1956. They had three sons and one daughter. His eldest son P.V K Mohan is the senior most member of National Shipping Board, second son P Sarat Kumar and third son P. Vivekananda are part of Seaways Shipping Limited. His daughter Padmasri is married to former MP

Lagadapati Rajagopal Lagadapati Rajagopal (born 1964) is an industrialist and former politician. He was the 15th Lok Sabha MP from the Vijaywada constituency for Indian National Congress. He resigned from Parliament and quit politics after the Telangana Bill wa ...

Death

Upendra died in Hyderabad on 16 November 2009 due to renal failure at the age of 73. He was on dialysis for five years following a kidney ailment. Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu, PRP president Chiranjeevi and other leaders mourned his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Upendra, Parvathaneni 1936 births 2009 deaths Members of the Cabinet of India V. P. Singh administration People from West Godavari district Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 Telugu Desam Party politicians Telugu politicians Indian National Congress politicians Praja Rajyam Party politicians Ministers for Information and Broadcasting of India Rajya Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh