Short Intro: Prof M Kodandaram of Osmania University ( Telangana political JAC Convenor )

(Courtesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Kodandaram-Rise-of-a-T-roubleshooter/articleshow/5486454.cms )
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Those associated with the Telangana movement and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) know M Kodandaram as one of the key advisors of the TRS chief when the latter launched the party in 2001. "He had a reputation as being a troubleshooter, and K Chandrasekhar Rao would consult him during times of crisis and even when he wanted ideas as to how to intensify the movement," said a TRS leader.

The son of a farmer from Manchiryal in Adilabad district, Kodandaram was born in 1955, did the major part of his education in Warangal, then considered the epicentre of the Telangana movement. After completing his degree from Warangal government college, he joined Osmania University in 1976 to pursue his post-graduation in political science.

As was the path of many who were Left-oriented in the late seventies, Kodandaram migrated to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, then a red bastion whose student body elections and the fierce debates that preceded it used to be followed by the national media. He completed his M.Phil in political science in 1980 and returned to the state and joined Hyderabad Central University as a research scholar. However, within a few months, he returned to join Osmania University where he was appointed as a lecturer in political science. He finally obtained his doctorate from OU in 2003.

It was in the early eighties that Kodandaram plunged into the civil liberties movement full-time. From 1996, he started organising seminars on the Telangana issue and after joining Telangana Vidya Vanthula Vedika, was elected its president in 2004. The Kodandaram couple have a son and daughter both of whom are pursuing engineering.

"As JAC convenor, Kodandaram would have to play a crucial role in ensuring that the JAC stays intact, which in the present circumstances, is a very challenging task," said one leader. Like for many leaders who were children of the first Telangana movement of the late sixties, this may perhaps be the last battle to realise the dream that they have literally grown up with.

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