Boianapalli Vinod Kumar (born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician and former Member of Parliament, he served as Vice-chairman of Telangana State Planning Board (2019-2023). He represented the Karimnagar constituency of Telangana State in the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019) and Hanamkonda constituency in the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009). He is one of the founding members of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party and is presently a politburo member and served as party's deputy Floor Leader in the 16th Lok Sabha.
Early life Vinod Kumar Boianapalli was born in Karimnagar, Telangana on 22 July 1959. He has a younger brother and a younger sister. His parents are B. Muralidhar Rao and B. Sugunadevi. His father was a state government employee in the revenue department in Warangal district. His paternal family is an agricultural family from Enugal village, Warangal. His maternal family is politically prominent and hails from Nagaram village, Karimnagar. Chennamaneni Rajeshwar Rao, freedom fighter and Communist party leader; Chennamaneni Hanumantha Rao, former Planning Commission member and former Chancellor of University of Hyderabad; Chennameneni Venkateshwar Rao, social worker; and Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, former Governor of Maharashtra are his maternal uncles.
Education and student politics Vinod Kumar Boianapalli did his schooling from Nehru Memorial School, Desaipet village, Warangal. He completed his intermediate education from Government Junior College, Hanamakonda. He did his Bachelor's in Science in Government Kakatiya Degree College and LL.B. at the University College of Law, Kakatiya University.
Vinod Kumar joined politics at the young age of 14 when he came into contact with the left-wing All India Students Federation (AISF), which was the student wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He became deeply involved in student politics and rose to become a student leader. He held various office bearer posts in the AISF state and national committees and also in the university students union. During his student days he participated in various public movements and agitations in Warangal.
Advocate profession Vinod Kumar enrolled as an advocate in the year 1984. He practiced as a lawyer in Warangal district until 1998. Later, he started his practice in the Andhra Pradesh High Court at Hyderabad. He is a member of Telangana Bar Council (erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Bar Council).
Political career Vinod Kumar enrolled as a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the late 1970s and held various organizational posts in the party. He was the district assistant secretary in Warangal and went on to become a member of the state council. Apart from his political activism he also participated in various people's movements, national and international seminars on world peace and was an active member of the Indo-Soviet cultural society, and All Inda Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO).
TRS party and Telangana Movement When the Telangana Movement was renewed in the late 1990s, Vinod Kumar was at the forefront. He participated in many debates, seminars and round table meetings on the backwardness of the Telangana region vis-a-vis Coastal Andhra. Together with Prof. Jayashanker and Prof. Biyyala Janardhan Rao, Kumar was instrumental in presenting a resolution in AP State CPI conference at Warangal for the development and special package to Telangana. Upon the call of K.Chandrasekhar Rao in 2000 for a separate Telangana, he along with KCR developed the roadmap for creation of a political outfit to fight for creation of Telangana. Along with KCR, he is a founding member of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party which was launched on 27 April 2001 with the sole agenda of forming a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as capital. Since then he began playing a key role in the TRS party and the Telangana movement.
Electoral History Lok Sabha Year ConstituencyParty Votes % OpponentParty Votes % Result Margin % 2004Hanamkonda 496,048 59.63 Chada Suresh Reddy 278,981 33.53 +217,067 +26.10 2009Karimnagar 267,684 27.06 Ponnam Prabhakar 317,927 32.14 −50,243 −5.08 2014 505,358 44.83 Ponnam Prabhakar 300,706 26.68 +204,652 +18.15 2019 408,768 35.60 Bandi Sanjay Kumar 498,276 43.40 −89,508 −7.80 2024 282,163 21.46 Bandi Sanjay Kumar 585,116 44.51 −302,953 −23.05
Member of Parliament
First term (2004–2009)
Mobilising support for Telangana In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections he contested from Hanamkonda in Warangal and won it with the highest percentage of votes in Andhra Pradesh. As a Member of Parliament he played an important role along with TRS party chief K. Chandrashekar Rao in convincing 32 political parties on the issue of Telangana statehood. At the outset there was virtually no national-level support and the movement was dismissed as a ploy by politicians to grab power. However, through persistent dialogue, parties were brought on-board and eventually letters of support were taken and submitted to the Pranab Mukherjee sub-committee which was set up to examine the statehood demand. He protested against the UPA for not keeping its promise of delivering Telangana by resigning from his Lok Sabha seat in March 2008. However the seat was regained by him in the subsequent by-election. As a people's representative, he undertook many developmental activities for his constituency.
Bhupalapally power plant Through his efforts, a power project was set up at Bhupalapally coal belt in Warangal district, in partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Rural Electrification Corporation at a total cost of Rs. 2000 crore.
Expansion of NH 163/202 National Highway 163 (former NH 202) connecting Hyderabad-Bhupalpatnam, passes through Warangal and is frequently accident prone. A major accident that claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 45 on Independence Day 2005 prompted Kumar to raise and pursue the widening of NH 202. His persistent intervention in Parliament resulted in widening of the highway as well as construction of a high level bridge over Godavari river near Etunagaram village to cross the border into Bhupalapatnam in Chhattisgarh.
Restoration of Thousand Pillar temple The kalyanamandapam of the iconic thousand pillar temple of Hanamkonda was dilapidated and its restoration work was pending for many years. After becoming an MP Kumar raised the issue in 2007 with the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Centre as well as the Archaeological Survey of India. The Centre released funds of Rs. 3 crores after his persistent intervention. The subsequent pace of restoration picked up and is now close to completion.
Drinking water supply and heritage city status for Warangal The city of Warangal suffered from shortages of drinking water supply. Vinod took up the issue and tried to get the city included within the eligibility list for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). However, Warangal could not be included in the mission as the then population of the city was less than10 lakh. Nevertheless, his efforts resulted in Warangal municipal corporation being given Rs. 178 crore in 2007 for implementing a drinking water project. This project aimed at improving the drinking water system for the city and included plans for increasing the storage capacity of the Dharmasagar and Bhadrakali tanks, connecting them through pipelines to existing filter beds and constructing new filter beds. The plan was successfully executed and met the drinking water needs of the city.
Vinod also held discussions with the then Chief Minister YSR to grant heritage city status to Warangal, owing to its historic identity as the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty. The demand was not acceded to immediately but was finally considered in 2015 by the NDA Government which granted heritage city status to Warangal under the HRIDAYscheme.
Tourism development for Laknavaram lake As Member of Parliament, Vinod facilitated the state Department of Tourism's plans to develop Laknavaram lake in Warangal district as a tourist spot. A wooden suspension bridge was constructed at a cost of Rs. 40 lakh to connect an island in the middle of the lake with the river bank. Haritha hotel was also constructed in Hanamkonda.
Kanthanapally irrigation project The Kanthanapally mega irrigation project in Warangal district was launched as a result of a movement by the TRS. It was aimed at storing 100 TMC of water of which 30 TMC could be supplied to nearby Warangal, Nalgonda and Hyderabad districts for drinking water purposes. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) project was conceptualised by Telangana engineers and the ideas were put into practice through the political activism of the TRS.
Babli project Vinod filed a petition in the Supreme Court on the controversial Babli project. This resulted in the apex court directing the Central government to appoint a high-level technical committee on Godavari river water sharing.
Telangana Movement (2009–2014) Due to the reorganisation of constituencies for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Hanamkonda was declared an SC reserved constituency. Vinod Kumar had to contest from Karimnagar instead of Warangal, and lost the election. Despite the loss, he continued to work at the ground level on various public issues. He threw himself completely into the Telangana movement and started playing an even more vital role in the TRS party. As the Karimnagar district-in-charge of TRS party, he actively toured the district during the Telangana agitation. As one of the key aids of KCR, he was at the forefront in taking many important decisions during the turbulent phase of 2009–14.
Legal issues regarding bifurcation As a practicing advocate, he brought his legal acumen to several of the legislative debates on bifurcation. He argued that article 371D of the Constitution of India would not be a hurdle to the creation of Telangana. He also provided clarity on the necessary constitutional amendments required to facilitate smooth bifurcation, whether two-thirds majority of the House was necessary for the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 and the role of Section 8 of the Act which dealt with law and order. Vinod also took an active role in fighting cases filed by political leaders from Andhra Pradesh in the Supreme Court to try and prevent the bifurcation of the state. Such activities provided intellectual firepower to the Telangana agitators and built their confidence.
Steel plant in Khammam In April 2013 the Bayyaram iron ore mines in Khammam and Warangal districts were allocated by a Government Order (GO) to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. This was severely opposed by TRS leaders including Kumar who alleged that this was a continuation of the loot of natural resources from Telangana by Seemandhra rulers. They demanded that a steel plant be set up in the Telangana region itself so as to provide employment to the locals who were far more deprived than their Seemandhra counterparts. Vinod coined the popular slogan ‘Bayyaramu ukku Telangana hakku’ (Bayyaram's ore is Telangana's right) which became a rallying cry for the agitation.
Medical seats to Telangana Vinod actively pursued the issue of non- allocation of additional seats for three prestigious medical colleges—Gandhi, Osmania and Kakatiya—in the Telangana region. He questioned the disparity between differential allocation for Seemandhra and Telangana colleges and demanded that the then chief minister KKR camp at Delhi and build pressure on the Prime Minister's office to get 150 additional medical seats (50 each) to the three colleges. He also met the Medical Council of India (MCI) secretary Professor Sanjai Srivastava and discussed the issue with him.
Second term (2014–2019)