AP Cabinet 2.0: Merugu Nagarjuna The Voice of Dalits Gets Ministerial Berth

GUNTUR: Merugu Nagarjuna, a senior YSRCP leader from the Vemuru constituency who has been the voice of the Dalits, will be among the 13 new faces that will be inducted into the Andhra Pradesh Council of Ministers here on Monday.

His prolonged struggle in public movements for the downtrodden and struggle for Dalit issues, under the ideals of Dr. BR Ambedkar, has been widely regarded among the people of Guntur district. He is of the firm belief that the Dalits’ upliftment can happen only through education, which he has reiterated throughout his journey. Merugu has been considered as one of the strong leaders who can advocate the YSRCP agenda. A doctorate Dr. Merugu Nagarjuna is known to help people at any time or place and this quality will be put to his utmost ability as a Minister in the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cabinet.

Merugu Nagarjuna Profile

Merugu Nagarjuna was born on June 15^th, 1966 in Vellaturu Village of Bhattiprolu Mandal, Guntur District. He completed his BCom from ABR Degree college in Repalle and in 1994 completed his MCom, Master of Philosophy, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Andhra University. He also worked as a Professor at Andhra University in Vishakapatnam.

Political Journey

Merugu Nagarjuna was very active in student politics during his college days. He started his political journey with the Congress Party (INC) and was closely associated with the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. He joined the YSR Congress Party in 2012. He served as President of SC Cell Andhra Pradesh state of the YSR Congress Party and also as the convenor of YSRCP. In 2009, he contested the Assembly elections from Vemuru constituency as a Congress candidate. He was then appointed Chairman of the SC & ST Commission. He contested and won from Vemuru constituency, which was once the stronghold of the Telugu Desam Party, in 2019.

When TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu once commented that " who would want to be born as Dalit", Merugu Nagarjuna rose to the occasion in the defense of the downtrodden and flayed Chandrababu for his derogatory statements on the Dalits. Meruga Nagarjuna questioned the TDP leader whether his 40 years of experience was only to insult the Dalits. He strongly demanded that cases be filed against Chandrababu under the SC and ST Atrocities Act.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh Cabinet 2.0: Check New AP Ministers' List