Y S Chowdary

About Y.S. Chowdary

Yelamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary or Y.S. Chowdary hails from Andhra Pradesh. A Rajya Sabha member from the Telugu Desham Party, he is one of the recent additions to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. He has been made a minister of state (MoS) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences. Also known as Sujana Chowdary, he is one of the richest MPs with assets of about Rs 190 crore.

Early life of Y.S. Chowdary

Chowdary belongs to Kanchikacherla village situated in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. He was born in the powerful Kamma community like his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. He is also principal founder of Hyderabad-based Sujana Group of companies that is active in production of steel products, and electrical and home appliances.

Born on 2 June 1961 on, the 53-year-old Chowdary graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology in Hyderabad in the year 1984. He completed his Masters Degree with specialisation in Machine Tool Engineering from PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. In the year 1986, he laid the foundation of Sujana Group of Companies.

Interestingly, Chowdary was named after his grandfather, who is a retired IPS officer, while the name of his company is the merger of the names of his mother and father. His father Y Janardhana Rao was a Superintendent Engineer in Andhra Pradesh Government with AP Irrigation and Power Department.

Chowdary is also the Chairman of the executive committee of a charitable society Share Medical Care that runs MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences near Hyderabad. The MediCiti Institute has a medical college, a college of nursing and a free service hospital of 600 beds. His company also runs Sujana Foundation that runs schools for challenged children and an old age home.

Married to Y. Padmaja, Chowdary is blessed with two children – a daughter and a son.

Political Career of Y.S. Chowdary

Chowdary’s proximity to Naidu dates back to the period 1995-2004 when the latter was the chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh. Chowdary became one of the main fund-raisers for the TDP. His rising popularity and social welfare works did not go unnoticed and his political career got started simultaneously. On 22 June 2010, he got elected as a Rajya Sabha MP from Telugu Desham Party. Prior to getting elected in Rajya Sabha, he has been a member of Indo-Singapore Parliamentary Friendship Group, Parliamentary Standing Committee and a Parliamentary Forum, besides member of the committee for Hyderabad Telecom District, Task Force on Clean Energy formed by Columbia Law School of USA, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology Management Committee and Court of University of Hyderabad. He was one of the strong voices against the division of Andhra Pradesh.

However, just after his inclusion in the Modi cabinet, Congress alleged that over 13 ministers in Modi government are tainted and the list included the name of Chowdary with who is said to owe Rs 317.61 crore to the Central Bank of India. However rubbishing the charges, the government has clarified on his behalf that Chowdary has been making regular payment and there is no substance in the allegations.
WBSKJ24.11.2014
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