Kishore Chandra Deo

Vyricherla Kishore Chandra Suryanarayana Deo (born 15 February 1947) is an Indian politician and a former member of the Telugu Desam Party political party. He has been elected to the Lok Sabha for five times and has also held one term in the Rajya Sabha. From July 2011 to May 2014, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj.

Early life Kishore Chandra Deo was born in Kurupam to Raja V. Durgaprasad Deo of Kurupam and Rani (now, Late Rajmata) Sobhalata Devi. He is the present Zamindar of Kurupam, Vizianagram District, Andhra Pradesh. He belongs to the Konda Dora scheduled tribe community, and is from a family of tribal hill chiefs. He was educated in Madras, he holds an M.A. degree in Political Science and a B.A. degree in Economics from Madras Christian College, Madras (now Chennai).

Political career

Deo was a member of the Lok Sabha representing the Araku (ST) constituency (for 2009-2014) in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. He has been a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) which is the highest decision-making body of the party. He was first elected to parliament in 1977 and has been elected to the Lok Sabha five times, and has also held one term in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament). On 12 July 2011 he was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the Union Cabinet, holding the portfolios of Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj.

He was also a Minister of State for Steel, Mines and Coal in the Central Cabinet in 1979-80. He has served on numerous parliamentary committees, and has been the chairperson of several key parliamentary committees, including the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill that led to the Forest Rights Act. He was also the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings (CoPU).

He headed the parliamentary investigation into the 2008 cash-for-votes scandal.

Deo is the author of the book Changing India's Political Mould, published in 1993. The book is on electoral and federal reforms in India.

Positions held Cabinet Minister - Tribal and Panchayati Raj Affairs - July 2011 – May 2014 Minister of State for Steel, Mines and Coal in the Central Cabinet - 1979-80 Electoral History Lok Sabha Year ConstituencyParty Votes % OpponentParty Votes % Result Margin % 1977 Parvathipuram 174,454 55.00 S. P. T. Veeravara Thodarmal 142,710 45.00 +31,744 +10.00 1980 Parvathipuram 173,179 49.03 Narsimha Rao Viswasrai 158,379 44.84 +14,800 +4.19 1984 Parvathipuram 233,175 54.49 Narasimha Rao Viswasa Rayi 184,495 43.11 +48,680 +11.38 1989 Parvathipuram 241,587 43.81 Vijayaramaraju Satrucharla 284,228 51.55 −42,641 −7.74 1991 Parvathipuram 229,903 43.61 Vijayaramaraju Satrucharla 279,415 53.01 −49,512 −9.40 1999 Parvathipuram 290,719 47.38 Dadichiluka Veera Gouri Sankara Rao 304,000 49.54 −13,281 −2.16 2004 Parvathipuram 321,788 48.69 Dadichiluka Veera Gouri Sankara Rao 314,370 47.57 +7,418 +1.12 2009 Aruku 360,458 45.49 Midiyam Babu Rao 168,014 21.20 +192,444 +24.29 2014 Aruku 52,884 5.79 Kothapalli Geetha 413,191 45.21 −360,307 −39.42 2019 Aruku 338,101 31.36 Goddeti. Madhavi 562,190 52.14 −224,089 −20.78