Ponnam Prabhakar
Indian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ponnam Prabhakar Goud (born 8 May 1967) is an Indian politician and Currently Serving as Minister of Transport and BC Welfare in Telangana.[2][3] Earlier he was a member of 15th Lok Sabha and worked Working President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.[4] He belongs to the Indian National Congress and represented the Karimnagar constituency of Andhra Pradesh. He was the youngest Member of Parliament who represented Karimnagar constituency between 2009 and 2014.[5][6][7]
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- Tamilisai Soundararajan (2023-2024)
- C.P. Radhakrishnan
(Additional charge) (2024) - Jishnu Dev Varma (2024-2026)
- Shiv Pratap Shukla (2026–present)
- Transport
- B.C Welfare
Puvvada Ajay Kumar (Transport)
Ponnam Prabhakar Goud | |
|---|---|
| |
| Minister for Transport & BC Welfare Government of Telangana[1] | |
| Assumed office 7 December 2023 | |
| Governor |
|
| Chief Minister | Revanth Reddy |
| Department and ministry |
|
| Preceded by | Gangula Kamalakar (B.C Welfare) Puvvada Ajay Kumar (Transport) |
| Member of Telangana Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 3 December 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Vodithela Sathish Kumar |
| Constituency | Husnabad |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 16 May 2009 – 17 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | K. Chandra Shakher Rao |
| Succeeded by | B. Vinod Kumar |
| Constituency | Karimnagar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 May 1967 |
| Party | INC |
| Spouse | Manjula (m.21 April 2000) |
| Children | Two children, Pruthvi, Pranav |
| Parent(s) | Sathaiah Goud, Mallamma |
Ponnam Prabhakar is also known for his activism at the time of Telangana movement and as parliamentarian who faced fierce hostility from fellow Parliamentarians in the form of ‘pepper spray’. His followers affectionately call him as ‘Ponnam Anna’.
Political career
A student leader from his college days, he became Union President of SRR Government Degree and PG College during 1987–1988. He served as district general secretary of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) from 1987 to 1989. He was also the convenor of the District Colleges of Karimnagar from 1987 to 1988. He held the position of NSUI State Secretary from 1989 to 1991 and was followed by District President of NSUI from 1992 to 1998. He later was elected again as NSUI State President from 1999 to 2002. [8][9]
He worked as General Secretary of State Youth Congress from 2002 to 2003 and then, worked as Pradesh Congress Committee Media Cell Coordinator from 2002 to 2004. He was made DCMS President and later worked as Chairman of State Markfed from 2005 to 2009. He was elected from Karimnagar as member of parliament to enter 15th Lok Sabha in 2009 on Indian National Congress (INC) ticket. He was a member of Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Ministry of Power Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways Consultative Committee, Committee on Provision of Computers to MPs of Lok Sabha, Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers in parliament. He was one of the active participants in Telangana Movement and earned his reputation in the Parliament by speaking out for a separate Telangana.[10]
After the formation of Telangana state in 2014, Ponnam Prabhakar contested the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat and lost to BRS candidate B. Vinod Kumar. In 2018, he contested the Karimnagar Assembly seat and was defeated by TRS Candidate Gangula Kamalakar. In the 2019 he contested from Karimnagar Lok Sabha and lost to BJP candidate Bandi Sanjay Kumar.[11][12]
Ponnam Prabhakar served as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) working President from 2018 to 2023.[13]
In 2023 Assembly Elections he contested from Husnabad constituency and won with a majority of 19,344 votes against BRS candidate Vodithela Sathish Kumar.[14] Ponnam Prabhakar took oath as minister at L B Stadium in Hyderabad on 7 December 2024 and later he was assigned Transport and BC Welfare ministry on 9 December 2024[15][16] and taken charge in his office on 18 December 2024.[17]
Ponnam Prabhakar was appointed as Hyderabad in-charge Minister on 24 December 2023.[18][19]
He was appointed as State Legislative Assembly Select Committee Chairman on 6 July 2026.[20]
Elections Contested
Lok Sabha
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Opponent Party | Opponent Votes | % | Result | Margin | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Karimnagar | INC | 179,258 | 15.62 | Bandi Sanjay Kumar | BJP | 498,276 | 43.42 | Lost | -319,018 | -27.80 | ||
| 2014 | 300,706 | 26.71 | Boianapalli Vinod Kumar | TRS | 505,783 | 44.93 | Lost | -205,077 | -18.22 | ||||
| 2009 | 317,927 | 32.14 | 267,684 | 27.06 | Won | 50,243 | 5.08 | ||||||
Telangana Legislative Assembly
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Opponent Party | Opponent Votes | % | Result | Margin | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Husnabad | INC | 100,955 | 48.84 | Vodithela Sathish Kumar | BRS | 81,611 | 39.48 | Won | 19,344 | 9.36 | ||
| 2018 | Karimnagar | 39,500 | 19.86 | Gangula Kamalakar | TRS | 80,983 | 40.71 | Lost | -41,483 | -20.85 | |||