TDP MP who objected to Congress leader referring to LS Chair as ‘yaar’: Who is Krishna Prasad Tenneti?

Born in Razole of East Godavari district to teacher parents, Tenetti hails from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. He holds an engineering degree from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal and an LLB from Osmania University. He is currently pursuing a PhD in sustainable urban mobility.

Tenneti has previously served as the chairperson of the Telangana Road Safety Authority and Additional Director General of Railways and Road Safety. Currently, he serves on the board of governors of the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur.

He runs an NGO called the Krishna Prasad Foundation, which worked in close association with the American India Foundation to mobilise medical equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic. His NGO was seen to be instrumental in procuring and donating critical equipment like oxygen cylinders, ventilators, concentrators and monitors to medical facilities during the pandemic.

Last year, he adopted Yerravalli village in Vikarabad district of Telangana, where he donated bicycles to girl students to enable them pursue higher education.

A first-time MP, Tenneti has raised critical issues in Parliament, where he serves as a member of the panel of chairpersons. He vocally slammed IndiGo after mass cancellations of its flights left thousands of passengers stranded at various airports across the country. He is also known to have monitored the airline’s decision to refund fares to passengers to the tune of Rs 610 crore.

He has also made special mentions regarding the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission implementation in Bapatla and has also requested expediting the establishment of educational institutions, including Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas in his constituency.

Reacting to the disruptions in Parliament, TDP national spokesperson Deepak Reddy told The Indian Express that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi is disrespecting parliamentary procedures. “He deliberately wants to make our institutions and our processes look inefficient. His constant praise for China and targeting the armed forces imply a nefarious motive. This is a classic anti-India attitude at display,” he added.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during the Motion of Thanks to the Presidnet’s address Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress over the incident, calling its “vile and disrespectful” behaviour as an “insult to the Dalit community and to the son of Andhra’s Dalit parivar”.