Venugopala is TDP’s face of anti-Telangana protests

Reddy, who contested and won for the first time in 2009, is known to be a straightforward man who speaks his mind.

People who know him say that TDP MP from Narasaraopet, Modugula Venugopala Reddy, 49, is an unlikely participant in the fracas in Parliament on Thursday.

While Reddy, who contested and won for the first time in 2009, is known to be a straightforward man who speaks his mind, they do not believe he can brandish a knife in the House. He is known to even lock horns with party president N Chandrababu Naidu, telling him bluntly when he disagrees with him.

“I don’t believe he brandished a knife. I can understand him pulling out a microphone,’’ said TDP MLA P Pulla Rao who also hails from Guntur district.
While TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu treads carefully on Telangana, Reddy has spearheaded the opposition to Telangana. Reddy came into the limelight only after he started organising protests in Guntur.

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Behind the protests may be the need to protect the business interests of Ramky Group, headed by his brother-in-law A Ayodhra Rama Reddy. Venugopala Reddy is a director and promoter of Ramky Group, which has invested in multi-crore real estate projects in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts, infrastructure and pharma companies.

Ramky is one of the leading groups building luxury apartments and villas in the IT corridor, and has invested over Rs 1,000 crore in these projects. It was named in the CBI chargesheet in the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy disproportionate assets case for allegedly making a quid pro quo arrangement with then CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who allotted 136 acres of land for Ramky Pharma SEZ in Vizag.

Ramky has also invested thousands of crores in a real estate project called “Discovery City”, near Maheshwaram in Ranga Reddy. The company was touting the project as an integrated township designed to rival Lavasa. Sources said Ramky has projects adding up to over Rs 9,000 crore in the Telangana region.