Goka Ramaswamy

Goka Ramaswamy
Member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office 1978–1985
Preceded by	T. Hayagriva Chary
Succeeded by	Bojappaly Rajaiah
Constituency	Station Ghanpur
Minister for Civil Supplies Government of Andhra Pradesh
In office 1978–1980
Minister for Transport and Fisheries Government of Andhra Pradesh
In office 1980–1982
Personal details
Born	1933 Jangaon, Hyderabad State, British India (now in Telangana, India)
Died	21 March, 2005
Political party	Indian National Congress

Goka Ramaswamy (1933 – 21 March 2005) was an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress from undivided Andhra Pradesh. Ramaswamy served as a Minister in the united Andhra Pradesh from 1978 to 1982 holding various portfolios. He was elected twice to Ghanpur (Station) Assembly constituency of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1978 and 1983 consecutively as a Congress Party candidate. He was also the deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) between 1983 and 1985 in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly when N. T. Rama Rao's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) formed the government for the first time.

Career

Early career

Goka Ramaswamy started his political career as a student leader while he was pursuing his Civil Engineering degree from Osmania University in the early 1950's. He was elected as councillor in the Jangaon Municipality at the age of 25 in the year 1957 and went on to serve until 1967. He also served as ZP Vice Chairman of Warangal District in the late 1960's and early 1970's. He played an imported role in Congress (Indira) when Congress Party was divided into many factions and was a longtime member of Indira Gandhi's core group throughout his political career. He was also the General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee(I) in 1977 and led Congress (Indira) to victory in the State in 1978 Assembly election.

Member of the Legislative Assembly and Minister

Ramaswamy was first elected as an MLA from Ghanpur (Station) Assembly constituency in 1978 and was made Minister for Civil Supplies in Marri Chenna Reddy's cabinet. Ramaswamy resigned from the Council of Ministers in 1979 due to differences with Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy, which created a political crisis in the state government due to which Chenna Reddy had to resign as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and subsequently T. Anjaiah was made the Chief Minister. Ramaswamy served as Minister for Transport and Fisheries in T. Anjaiah's cabinet from 1980 to 1982. He was re-elected to Ghanpur(Station) in 1983 and was among the few leaders from congress to be elected during the NTR wave. He was made the deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly during N. T. Rama Rao's first tenure as the Chief Minister.

Personal life

Ramaswamy mentored many young leaders from Warangal District who went to become Ministers later. His older brother Goka Ramalingam was an Indian Politician belonging to the Congress Party and a three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 1952 to 1967 representing Bhongir constituency in the Hyderabad Legislative Assembly and Jangaon constituency in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Ramaswamy died at his residence in Hyderabad, in the early hours of 21 March, 2005 at the age of 72.