Nannapaneni Rajakumari

Nannapaneni Rajakumari was born on October 9 in the year 1948 in Guntur district. She is one of the prominent women leaders in The Telugu Desam Party since the party’s outset in 1982. She held the position of MLC for two constituencies. She holds the position of chair for NCW - National Commission for Women as well which was set up in January 1992 to safeguard legal and constitutional rights for women. She has also been the president for TDP affiliated body called Telugu Mahila. Rajakumari has also written nine novels named Nannapaneni Navaratnalu. Nannapaneni Rajakumari is married to a teacher, Nannapaneni Mukunda Rao. They have two children – Nannapaneni Raghu, a doctor in the US, and Nannapaneni Sudha, a politician. N Sudha joined Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party. Nannapaneni Rajakumari has four grandchildren.

Her signature identity is that of a typical Telugite, with hands full of bangles. Her career kick-started when she gave a speech for the first time in the ‘Samaikya’ meeting organised for unified Andhra during the Jai Andhra Movement in 1972. Her paternal uncle, Mr. Nannapaneni Venkat Rao is widely attributed to Rajakumari’s interest in politics. Though the schooling of Rajakumari stopped at the elementary level, her eloquence in Telugu made her the politician she is today. Nannapaneni Rajakumari served as a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) for the Sattenapalli Constituency of Guntur in 1983. She worked as an MLC for the Vinukonda Constituency for a full term, i.e. from 1989 to 1994. She was also the Chief Whip for ninth Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Rajakumari acted the role of a chief justice in the movie Vijetha, which stars Taarakratna, in the year 2012.

She was also the president of the Andhra Pradesh State Mahila Congress. During the time of protests against the state bifurcation in the year 2009, Nannapaneni Rajakumari nonplussed the activists and TDP leaders, by declaring a fast – until - death, against the state bifurcation, on December 20, 2009. She launched this indefinite hunger strike in Guntur, at the Potti Sriramulu statue near Hindu College. Rajakumari, in spite of her busy schedule, visited the Guntur Government Hospital where the TDP leaders K Siva Prasada Rao, G V Anjaneyulu and P Pulla Rao were on a hunger strike. She expressed her solidarity with the fasting leaders and later declared an indefinite fast. Eventually, Rajakumari called off the strike, after a call from the Government. Nannapaneni Rajakumari currently resides in Masab Tank, Hyderabad. She takes part in the TDP meetings and rallies actively. Rajakumari is one of the 405 Women MLA’s in the National Women’s Parliament hosted by the Telugu Desam Party in the capital of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati. The National Women’s Parliament is a three-day summit to facilitate the interaction between women from various backgrounds like media, cinema, and politics, etc.