BJP Telangana president G Kishan Reddy, who took oath as Union minister on Sunday, his second term in office, is a leader who succeeded against considerable odds being a first generation politician from a rural area.
The 64-year old leader retained the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of over 49,000 votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls, defeating his nearest Congress rival Danam Nagender. Born to middle class farmer-parents in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana near Hyderabad, he started his political career as an ordinary worker in 1977. He has held important party positions including the president of the BJP's state unit and national president of BJP's Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
As union minister, he has held the portfolios of home, tourism, culture and development of Northeast region and he was a three-time MLA.
Affectionately called 'Kishan Anna' by party workers and leaders, he started his political journey with the Janata Party. He joined the BJP on its inception in the year 1980 and grew in the party gradually handling one key responsibility after the other.
He was convener of BJYM, Ranga Reddy district committee, in 1980-81 and rose to become the state president of BJYM in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1986.
Kishan Reddy functioned as national president of BJYM from 2002 to 2004. When he was the president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, he founded the World Youth Council against Terrorism (WYCAT) an apolitical organisation to fight terrorism across the world.
He organised the International Youth Conference against Terrorism (IYCT) under the auspices of WYCAT in New Delhi. He was elected as MLA for the first time in 2004 and later for two consecutive terms in 2009 and 2014.
He had also served as president of BJP in undivided Andhra Pradesh from March, 2010 to March, 2014. Kishan Reddy became the first president of BJP in the newly-formed state of Telangana in 2014. He was also the saffron party's floor leader in Telangana Legislative Assembly during 2016 to 2018.
Kishan Reddy was elected to the Lok Sabha from Secunderabad in 2019 and became MoS (Home) in the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was soon promoted to Cabinet rank in 2021 and entrusted the portfolios of tourism, culture and development of north eastern region. In 2024 LS polls, he faced a keen contest from Congress candidate D Nagender and BRS nominee T Padmarao Goud.
As president of Telangana Home Guards Association, he had staged several protests several times, including hunger strike, in support of the cause of Home Guards.