Gottipati Ravi Kumar (born 9 November 1974), commonly known as Bujji, is an Indian politician currently serving as an

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) and cabinet minister in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. He has been elected to the

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly ( Telugu: ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ శాసన సభ, ISO: ''Āndhra Pradēś Śāsana Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state, Andhra Pradesh. ...

five times, with four terms representing the Addanki Assembly constituency and one term for Martur Assembly constituency. Ravi Kumar is the Minister for Energy in the current Fourth N. Chandrababu Naidu ministry and has won elections in 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024, representing three different political parties. He is currently the member of

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (TDP; ) is an Indian regional political party primarily active in the Federated state, states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by Telugu cinema, Telugu matinée idol N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) on 29 March 1982 a ...

Early life and education

Kumar was born in 1976 to Seshagiri Rao. He completed his intermediate studies at Vidwan Junior College in Guntur and graduated from B.I.E.T. College in Davangere, Karnataka in 1993. He is from a farming family, and also runs his own business.

Political career

Kumar began his political career with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC),contesting in the

2004 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election The 2004 Andhra Pradesh Assembly election, was held in 2004 with the Indian National Congress winning 185 of the 294 seats in the Assembly. In the history of Andhra Pradesh, it was the first time the grand old party entered into an alliance wit ...

from the Martur Assembly constituency. He won, defeating Gottipati Narasimha Rao of the

(TDP) by a margin of 13,806 votes. In

2009 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election The 2009 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election took place in April 2009, concurrently with the 2009 Indian general election. The elections were held in the state in the first phase on 16 April 2009 and the second phase on 23 April 2009. ...

, he was re-elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly as an INC candidate, this time representing the Addanki Assembly constituency, where he defeated

Karanam Balaram Krishna Murthy Karanam Balaram Krishna Murthy (Karaṇaṁ Balarām Kr̥ṣṇa Mūrti), (born 31 October 1946) is an Indian politician in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was born in Thimmasamudram village of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh. He was elect ...

of TDP by a margin of 15,764 votes. He later joined the

YSR Congress Party The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (, YSRCP or YCP), often shortened to simply the YSR Congress Party, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party based in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The party was initially registere ...

(YSRCP) and in the

2014 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election The 2014 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election took place on 30 April and 7 May 2014 to elect members to the legislatures of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Legislative Assembly, Telangana. It was held ...

, he won from Addanki, defeating Karanam Venkatesh of TDP by a margin of 4,235 votes. On 27 April 2016, Kumar left YSRCP and joined TDP in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister

N. Chandrababu Naidu Nara Chandrababu Naidu (; born 20 April 1950), commonly known as CBN, is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He holds the record of longest-serving Chief Minister in the political histor ...

. In the

2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election The 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election were held in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on 11 April 2019 for constituting the 15th Legislative Assembly (Andhra Pradesh), fifteenth legislative ...

, he was re-elected from Addanki as a TDP candidate, defeating Bachina Chenchu Garataiah of the YSRCP by a margin of 12,991 votes. Kumar was notably the only candidate from among the 23 YSRCP MLAs who defected to the TDP after the 2014 elections to secure a victory in 2019. In the

2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election The 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election was held in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on 13 May 2024 for constituting the 16th Andhra Pradesh Assembly, sixteenth Andhra Pradesh Assembly. The ...

, he continued his winning streak from the Addanki constituency, breaking his previous record by achieving a victory margin of 24,840 votes, setting a new personal and constituency record. In 2024, he was inducted into the Andhra Pradesh cabinet as the Minister of Energy in the Fourth N. Chandrababu Naidu ministry.

Election history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravi Kumar, Gottipati Living people Telugu Desam Party politicians Andhra Pradesh MLAs 2004–2009 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 2009–2014 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 2014–2019 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 2019–2024 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 2024–2029 Year of birth missing (living people) YSR Congress Party politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh