With fire in the belly, Bandi Sanjay walks into Modi team

Hyderabad: Former State BJP chief and Karimagnar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar took oath as minister of State in the Modi cabinet on Sunday. Born on July 11, 1971, in Karimnagar to the late B Narasayya (father) and B Shakuntala (mother), Sanjay self-volunteered in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood.

The firebrand leader, with an uncompromised Hindu nationalistic ideological allegiance, started his stint in public affairs humbly being the city convener, city vice president and State delegate of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He held the office of director at Karimnagar Cooperative Bank for two terms from 1994-2003.

Sanjay served as an election in-charge at the BJP national office, Delhi, besides, serving as BJP city coordinator, city president, State executive member, State vice-president, and national executive member. He also served as the national coordinator for Bharatiya Janata YuvaMorcha (BJYM), serving in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He was the vehicle charge for the historic Suraj Rath Yatra led by former Deputy PM LK Advani.

In electoral politics, Sanjay's first stint started with election as corporator for 48th division of Karimnagar Municipal Corporation. He served twice as corporator, followed by two terms as BJP city unit president. He contested as candidate in the Assembly elections from Karimnagar in 2014 and secured the second position. He won from the Karimnagar LS constituency in 2019 with a majority of 96,009 votes.

As MP Sanjay was a member Parliamentary Committees on OBC Welfare, and Urban Development in 2019. He was appointed a member of the Tobacco Board and Minority Affairs State-level Committee in 2019. He was appointed a member of the Airports Authority of India, Begumpet Board in 2020.

His appointment as State BJP chief in 2020 shot him into fame nationwide for mounting a relentless fight against the BRS and the then CM KCR government. For the first time, the party was looked at alternate political force in the newly formed Telangana. Later, he was appointed national general secretary in 2023. He was elected MP for the second term in 2024 with a margin of 2.25 lakh votes.

Sanjay’s wife Aparna is a bank employee; he has two children, Sai Bhagirath and Sai Sumukh.