Renuka Chowdhury

Renuka Chowdary (Telugu: రేణుక చౌదరి Rēṇuka Caudari)(Alternate spellings: Chowdhury, Choudhury, Chaudhary, Choudhry) is a Rajya Sabha MP of Congress from Andhra Pradesh, and a former Union minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Women and Child Development in the Government of India.

Education

Chowdhury studied at the Welham Girls School, Dehradun and received her B.A. in Industrial Psychology from Bangalore University.

Career

Ms. Chowdhury entered politics in 1984. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms, from 1986 to 1998. She was also the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare from 1997 to 1998 in the cabinet of H. D. Deve Gowda. In 1998, she left the TDP to join the Congress party. In 1999 and 2004, she was elected to the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha respectively representing Khammam. Other positions include memberships on the Committee on Finance (1999–2000) and Committee on the Empowerment of Women (2000–2001). In May 2004 she became the Minister of State for Tourism in the UPA I government. She was the Union minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Women and Child Development in the UPA I government from January 2006 to May 2009. In the May 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Renuka Chowdary was defeated by Nama Nageswara Rao of TDP from Khammam by 1,24,448 votes.