Ramlu Komireddi is a senior lawyer, journalist and a left-leaning liberal politician in South India. English barrister 16th century painting of a civil law notary, by Flemish painter Quentin Massys. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ...

Education

Komireddi attended City College, Hyderabad, and studied law at Law College, Osmania University, and journalism (BCJ) at the same University, emerging as one of the foremost and most successful lawyers of his generation. City College of The City University of New York The City College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as the City College of New York or simply City College) is a senior college of the City University of New York, in New York City. ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Osmania University is a university situated in the city of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, India. ...

Politics: 1960s—Present

An active participant in student politics, Komireddi was elected the students' General Secretary of Osmania University, one of the most prestigious positions in Indian student politics, when he was studying law there. After leaving University, he moved to Delhi to join Ram Jethmalani, whose political campaigns and schedules he managed. Eventually, despite his active distaste for the B.J.P. and its ideology, which he perceived as "divisive," he reluctantly joined the party at Jethmalani's behest.^[1] In 1978, in what was to be the first of many attempts, Komireddi ran for the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly as a B.J.P. candidate and lost. In 1985, when his popularity was at an all time high, the B.J.P. refused to back his candidature and, instead, endorsed Ch. Vidyasagar Rao. L.K. Advani reportedly told Jethmalani that he did not back Komireddi because he felt Komireddi was "too liberal." As a gesture of solidarity to Komireddi, and as an act of protest against Advani's decision, Jathmalani resigned from the party.^[2] Ram Jethmalani (born September 14, 1923) is an Indian politician. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lal Krishna Advani (born November 8, 1927/1929, Karachi) is an Indian politician. ...

Komireddi went ahead and contested the 1985 election from Metpalli as an independent, winning 22.31 percent of the vote to Vidyasagar Rao's 22.88 percent. It was a narrow victory for Rao, an outsider, and a second defeat for Komireddi, a native of Metpalli. Reacting to reports of malfeasance in the ballot-counting, Komireddi sought, and was promptly denied, a recount, and consequently, he took the matter to the Supreme Court of India, which upheld the election.^[3] Disillusioned by the entire saga, Komireddi returned to legal practice, soon establishing himself as one of the most successful lawyers in Andhra Pradesh. Eventually, he joined the Congress Party, within which he was promoted to various important, although not very powerful, positions at state-level. The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the land as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India. ... Andhra Pradesh  : (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్, Urdu: آندھرا پردیش, IPA: ), is a state in South India. ... The Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party) is the largest subscription-based organisation in the world. ...

In 1998, his wife, Jyoti Devi, was chosen by the Congress to contest the by-election in Metpalli, after the seat fell vacant following Vidyasagar Rao's election to the Lok Sabha the same year. Of the four by-elections held that year, Devi's was the only Congress victory. Devi soon established herself as a sedulous legislator and an astute politician, endearing herself to Sonia Gandhi and, resultantly, securing many positions of power within the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee.[1][2]. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. ... Sonia Gandhi (Hindi: , IPA: ), born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino on December 9, 1946, is an Italian-born Indian politician, the President of the Indian National Congress and the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. ...

In 2004's general elections, Komireddi was denied Congress's endorsement, and when he declared that he would run as an independent, in defiance of Congress's alliance with a regional party, he was expelled from the party for six years.[3] He ran as a Janata Party candidate, but used Sonia Gandhi's posters and the Congress's manifesto, claiming that, ideologically, he was inseparable from the Congress and, too, that Sonia Gandhi was the best hope for India. He was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly with a majority of over five thousand votes.[4] Within the House, he was elected to the Floor Leadership of the Janata Party; his expulsion from Congress was eventually annulled and he was in 2004 made an "associate member" of its legislative wing. Among the non-ministerial members, Komireddi's perhaps is the most enviable position within the House: he enjoys virtually all the benefits of being a Congress member, including invitations to the Congress Legislative Party's meetings where he is known to air his views volubly, while retaining the enviable independence of a Floor Leader. Generally, though, he has always used his bully pulpit to strongly defend the Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy and attack the principal Opposition. He is seen as a trusted lieutenant of the Chief Minister and is largely expected to be promoted within the House. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Janata Party (Peoples Party in Hindi) was an Indian political party that contested the Indian Emergency (1975-77) and became the first political party to defeat the Indian National Congress in the 1977 elections, forming the national government from 1977 to 1980. ... ... A Chief Minister is the elected Head of Government of a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British overseas territory that has attained self-government. ...

Future Speculation

He has declared that he has been working on a book about India and its politics, which will also be his partial-autobiography, to be published in 2007. Reportedly, Ram Jethmalani will be contributing an expansive preface to the book.

Trivia

1. His wife, Smt. Jyoti Devi, a senior Conress Party leader, is a General Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Pradesh Congress Committee; she served as a Legislator in 1998.

2. His sons, Karam Chand and Vijay Azad, are President and Secretary, respectively, of the Indian Young Lawyers' Forum. They were responsible for taking Coca Cola to court over the alleged use of pesticides in its drinks in India; additionally, they successfully got an order from the High Court of Andhra Pradesh to halt APSRTC's general strike, saving the state government potential losses.[5] The current logo for Coca-Cola Classic is a variant of the Arden square design of 1969 that introduced the wavy Dynamic Ribbon Device below the Coca-Cola script. ...

3. His son Karam Chand is reportedly writing a travel book, detailing his journeys through Europe and East Asia.

4. His son Vijay Azad was called to the Bar at the age of 19, creating a record as the second-youngest lawyer ever to be called to the Bar (the first being Ram Jethmalani, who was called to the Bar at 18).

5. Komireddi called on President Abdul Kalam to confer the Bharat Ratna upon Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for her "supreme sacrifice in renouncing the prime minister's post." [6] Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil: அவுல் பகிர் ஜைனுலாப்தீன் அப்துல் கலாம்; Hindi: अवुल पकिर जैनुलाअबदीन अब्दुल कलाम; born October 15, 1931, Tamil Nadu, India, usually referred to as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam ^, is the current President of India. ... Bharat Ratna is Indias highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. ...

6. In a recent essay, he criticised the establishment for not yet conferring the Bharat Ratna on Sonia Gandhi: "[I]t remains a further source of shame that the Bharat Ratna has not so far been conferred on [Sonia Gandhi] this monumental figure of rectitude and paragon of probity."^[4]

Notes

1. ^ "Raucous and Rambling, yet Reliable: The Indian Parliamentary Democracy," published by the APLA, 2006.
2. ^ Ibid.
3. ^ Komireddi Ramuloo v. Chennemaneni Vidyasagar Rao and others—April 6, 1990; Citation AIR 1990 SC 1352.
4. ^ "Raucous and Rambling, yet Reliable: The Indian Parliamentary Democracy," published by the APLA, 2006.

External links

• Ramlu Komireddi's webpage on Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly's site