My Country My People

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A person's account of his life and activities is bound to evince interest in others, if it is written in sincerity and forthrightness. Even if the stage is small and the role of the person concerned a minor one, the interactions of chances and circumstances with human desires and ideals, will be also of some interest to him. But of all writings, autobiographical is the most delicate and difficult one, which is why I am sulking to attempt a sketch on my career and activities. We generally incline to show to the world more of our success than of our failures, and more of our achievements than of our setbacks. However, in the present account it is not at all my intention to speak about my personal life roping in my parents, ancestry, marriage, family, likes, dislikes, struggles and disappointments. Although these are of immense importance to me, discretion just forbids me to speak of them. Besides, they may be of no particular interest to the general members of public, who would like to know more about my ideas of the people in general, their problems, difficulties and concerns and, if possible, my proposals and suggestions for their redresses.
Although my father was a very active leader in Andhra Pradesh, we were not at all close to him in his political activities. We had a large family and we observed him from a distance functioning as the chief minister. We were not close to him in political sense of the term either and my exposure to political scenario and joining politics took place years after he left his position. It was almost a chance coincidence that I entered politics and got elected to the 14 Lok Sabha in 2004 and then again to the 15th Lok Sabha in 2009 both times with an encouraging majority from two different constituencies... Bapatla and Visakhapatnam respectively.
Since inception, as a Member of Parliament, I tried to bring to the fore, the problems relating to farming, education, public health, science, technology, mother-child welfare, women empowerment, natural calamities and tribulations faced by weavers and artisans in the country and other related subjects with utmost dedication because I thought, that it should be my primary duty to raise these issues affecting the people, who had brought me to the political limelight. I decided that I must try my best to fulfil their aspirations to the best of my ability.
Therefore in spite of my preoccupations and engagements first, as a parliamentarian and then, as a minister, I promoted interactions with a galaxy of prominent politicians, intellectuals, administrators and public men across the country and endeavoured to derive advantage of the opportunities to serve urgent problems of the people around me. In this enduring task, I was inspired by my inner response of Swami Vivekananda, who said that service to mankind was service to divinity. My objective has all along been to strive for better living standards for toiling masses and common men. So I tried to espouse the cause of ordinary people in various matters so as to bring about, as far as possible, a paradigm shift in their lifestyle. Shortly after my election to the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004, I was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers in January 2006 as Minister of State for Human Resource Development, which gave me a first-hand opportunity to help my people from the seat of power and a position of authority. Even as a minister, I kept my attention focused on the problems of the country and the countrymen. So whether as a minister or a Member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh, I never lost sight of my basic idealism of serving people and addressing their difficulties. I therefore, decided to entitle this book as 'MY COUNTRY, MY PEOPLE' so as to highlight the fact that the country and the people, who have guided me, should continue as lodestar of my political career and never be away, from my mind. I have so far been able to stick to this ideology.