Asifabad MLA Kova Laxmi has shown that language isn’t a barrier to understanding people’s concerns. She speaks only a little Telugu and doesn’t know Hindi or English, but she has emerged as a top leader according to a recent BRS party survey.
Kova Laxmi was born into a family of politicians. Her father, the late Kotnak Bheem Rao, was the Minister of Tribal Affairs under PV Narsimha Rao’s cabinet and also served as a minister under Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy’s cabinet.
Her father, late Kotnak Bheem Rao, was the first graduate from the Gond community in Asifabad. He was a senior Congress leader who worked as a minister twice during the Congress rule.
Laxmi began her political journey with the Telugu Desam Party. In 1955, she was independently elected as MPTC and served as MPP. She also served as a sarpanch for two terms in Bamara village of Wankidi mandal.
Later, she joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. From 2014 to 2018, she worked as the MLA of Asifabad constituency. In 2019, she was elected as the Zilla Parishad chairperson of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.
In the 2018 assembly general elections, she contested for the post of MLA of Asifabad but was narrowly defeated by Athram Sakku, the INC candidate, by 172 votes. In recent elections, she won against Congress candidate Ajmeera Shyam Naik by a margin of 22,798 votes.
