Kaleru Venkatesh, a former JNU student who wanted to become an IAS officer, ended up becoming an MLA from Amberpet Assembly constituency in Secunderabad. He finds being a politician satisfying because he can solve people’s issues on a larger scale.
Born on December 10, 1960, Venkatesh studied Sociology at JNU and later obtained an LLB from Delhi University. He started his political career in 2009 after being encouraged by senior Congress leader V Hanumanth Rao to contest GHMC elections. Venkatesh became a corporator for Congress in Golnaka before joining the BRS party and winning from Amberpet. His victory over veteran BJP MLA G Kishan Reddy in the 2018 Assembly elections brought him into the spotlight.
Venkatesh believes that the roles of advocates and politicians are similar as both focus on addressing people’s issues. He credits his family, including his wife (a former corporator), daughter (a doctor), and son (an advocate), for their support in his political journey.
As an MLA, Venkatesh has prioritized resolving long-standing issues in his constituency that his predecessors failed to address. He takes pride in providing double bedroom houses to 2,845 families and solving a longstanding graveyard issue for Muslim minorities. He has also allocated funds for various development projects like Musarambagh bridge, Karnataka Sahitya Mandiram, and OP block renovation at Fever Hospital.
Venkatesh claims to have utilized development funds effectively, unlike his predecessor, Kishan Reddy. He has allocated significant funds for projects like vertical gardens at Fever Hospital, works under SNDP, and plans to work on developing Moin Cheruvu Nala, Narendra Nagar Park, and Nallakunta Ramalayam in the future to address his constituents’ issues.
