Tulla Devender Goud

Tulla Devender Goud, also known as Devender Goud, is a senior leader of Telugu Desam Party. He founded the Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTP) to fight for separate statehood for Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh but later returned to his parent outfit.[1]

A backward classes leader, he served as a cabinet minister for BC welfare and Prohibition portfolios in N.T. Rama Rao's cabinet. He has also worked as a cabinet minister handling Revenue and Home portfolios under Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

He was elected three times to the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh from Medchal assembly constituency as a representative of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He was a TDP politbureau member since 1991, deputy leader of TDP legislature party in the AP legislative assembly and was considered number two leader, next only to Nara Chandrababu Naidu in TDP before he resigned to fight for separate statehood of Telangana state.

Political career

Goud was elected as a student leader while at college. He then joined N.T. Rama Rao's new political party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and was elected Chairman of the Zilla Parishad for Rangareddy district. He became the TDP candidate for Medchal assembly constituency six months prior to the scheduled elections of 1994 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, and was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for that constituency in 1994.

Goud became a member of Rao's cabinet with responsibility for three independent portfolios: Backward Classes welfare, Co-operation, and Total Prohibition. He became Revenue Minister in Nara Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet after the latter rebelled against Rao in 1995.[2]

He was re-elected as MLA for Medchal in 1999 with a margin of over 77,000 votes.[3] Subsequently, he became minister for Home, Jails, Fire services, NCC, Sainik Welfare, Film Development Corporation and Cinematography in Naidu's cabinet.

In 2004 he won a record-third term from the Medchal constituency, despite a statewide wave of anti-incumbency against the TDP government, as well as in favour of a separate Telangana state. The TDP lost those elections to the Indian National Congress (INC), and Goud was appointed as TDP deputy leader in the legislative assembly.

Subsequently, there were problems perceived in the Telangana regions by the diversion of water from the Krishna and Godavari rivers to other areas, and by the manner in which the INC sidelined its election promise to separate Telangana as an independent state. Furthermore, there were sales of public lands in the Telangana region and there was a lack of representation for the people of the region people in the local job market, including in administrative and bureaucratic posts. Goud believed that Telangana leaders should fight against these perceived injustices and organized a padayatra (procession on foot) from Pranahitha to Chevella in protest. This was well received in Telangana and forced the TDP to support the idea of separate Telangana statehood in the May 2008 by-elections.[4]

Following the by-elections the TDP retreated from its promise of separate statehood and instead constituted a committee to decide the issue. Goud now thought that both the INC and TDP were procrastinating and were not particularly in favour of the idea,[5] so he resigned from his legislative assembly seat and from the TDP in June 2008 in protest.[6]

He then organized a Telangana Sadhana Samithi discussion with scholars and professors from the Telangana regions to discuss future action.[7] This meeting was attended by 3000 delegates including Praja Gayakudu Gaddar, Konda Laxman Bapuji, Mallepalli Laxmaiah and Tirumali.[8]

On 9 July 2008 he organized a convention of Telangana students at Osmania University to explain his resignation from the TDP and his plans to lead non-violent agitation for statehood. He stressed the importance of participation of students in fighting for the statehood of Telangana without violence as happened between 1967 and 1971.[9]

On 11 July 2008 Goud announced a new political party, the Nava Telangana Praja Party, to fight for Telangana statehood. However, it was soon decided to merge this with the Praja Rajyam Party. While the official reason for the merger is said to be common ideology of the two parties—social justice and separate Telangana, the reality is that Goud has been finding it difficult to run the party as it had failed to create the kind of impact he expected before he quit TDP on 23 June 2008 therefore watching out for his political future the decision was made about the merger.[original research?]

Goud lost both the parliamentary and assembly elections in 2009.[citation needed] Then, on 3 August 2009, Goud resigned from the Praja Rajyam Party and announced that he would rejoin the TDP.[citation needed] In 2012, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a TDP candidate