Uma Gajapathi Raju is an Indian politician and a former member of
Indian Parliament. She was born at
Palghat,
Kerala on 17 November 1953. She was educated at
Madras University. She married Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju on 18 August 1971. They had 2 daughters. They divorced in 1989 and she married film maker Ramesh Sharma in 1991. Anand Ganapathi Raju died in 2016.
She is a political and social worker. She was joint secretary of
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee
The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) is the state unit of Indian National Congress for the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The APCC has its headquarters at Andhra Ratna Bhawan, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. The APCC is responsible for C ...
for one year. Anand Gajapathi Raju, Uma's then husband, was a minister in N T Rama Rao's ministry in AP. But in 1989, he resigned from TDP to join Congress before Uma successfully contested Lok Sabha election the same year. She was elected to the
9th Lok Sabha, in 1989, from
Visakhapatnam (Lok Sabha constituency)
Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency is one of the twenty-five lok sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh in India. It comprises seven assembly segments and belongs to Visakhapatnam district.
Assembly segments
Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constitu ...
as a member of
Indian National Congress. She was a member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 1990. In 1991 Lok Sabha polls, she came second in Visakhapattanam to the TDP candidate.
She was vice-president of All India Women's Hockey Federation; vice-chairperson, Organising Committee, Freedom Run and Marathon; member, Nehru Cricket Club; vice-president, National Institute of Social Action and National Red Cross Society;
She is interested in flood and drought relief work, promotion of orphanage activities, environment protection and malaria eradication programmes.
She was director of the Trade Fair Authority of India.; member of the Film Festival Selection Committee for International Film Festival, 1989; member of the Cultural Sub-Committee, Nehru Implementation Committee.
She joined the board of Moving Picture Co India Ltd in 1989 and resigned from the board in 2010. She has been anchor for 8 years of the prime time news program on Doordarshan called ''India This Week''. She has been executive producer of many award-winning documentaries, including the Emmy-nominated film ''The Journalist'' and the ''Jihadi – The Murder of Daniel Pearl'', directed by her husband Ramesh Sharma.
Her daughter, Sanchaita Gajapathi Raju, was appointed spokesperson of Delhi unit of BJP in 2018. Sanchaita was also the former Chairman of Simhachalam temple trust board and MANSAS (2020-21)
References
External links
Biodata of Uma Gajapathi Raju at Lok Sabha website.
India MPs 1989–1991
1951 births
Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh
People from Visakhapatnam district
Living people
Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh
People from Palakkad district
Women in Andhra Pradesh politics
Telugu politicians
20th-century Indian women politicians
20th-century Indian politicians
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