Meet Ram Mohan Naidu, India’s New Aviation Minister, Youngest In Modi 3.0

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has replaced Jyotiraditya Scindia as India’s Civil Aviation Minister in the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. At 36, the three-time Member of Parliament is one of the youngest ministers in the NDA 3.0.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the allocation of portfolios on Monday. Ram Mohan Naidu, a key leader in N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, played a significant role in NDA’s power-packed electoral performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

Ram Mohan Naidu is also TDP’s National General Secretary and has won the Srikakulam seat, defeating Perada Tilak of the YSR Congress Party by over 3 lakh votes.

Here are some facts about Ram Mohan Naidu:

1. Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu was born on December 18, 1987, in Andhra Pradesh, in a family with a strong political background. His father, the late Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu, was a prominent leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and served as the youngest Cabinet Minister in 1996. His mother is Vijayakumari Kinjarapu. His uncle, Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, is the TDP chief in Andhra Pradesh.

2. Ram Mohan Naidu holds degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Long Island University, both in the USA. After completing his education, he worked in Singapore for a while before returning home.

3. Ram Mohan Naidu forayed into politics in 2012 following the death of his father in a car accident. At the age of 26, he contested and won the Lok Sabha seat from Srikakulam in 2014, becoming the second youngest MP in the 16th Lok Sabha. In 2019, he was re-elected from the same constituency.
 
4. In the 2024 elections, he defeated YSRCP’s Perada Tilak with a significant majority of over 3 lakh votes. It marks his third consecutive win in Srikakulam since his entry into politics. Now, Ram Mohan Naidu, at age 36, is the youngest member of the Cabinet headed by PM Modi. 

5. Ram Mohan Naidu has held significant positions within the TDP, including that of National General Secretary. He also served as the party’s floor leader in the previous Lok Sabha. During 2014-2019, he was a Member of the Standing Committee on Railways and the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes. After re-election to the 17th Lok Sabha in 2019, he joined the Standing Committee on Rural Development. He was honoured with the Sansad Ratna Award in 2020 because of his exceptional performance as an MP. Mr Ram Mohan Naidu married Sravya Bandaru in 2017.