Konathala Ramakrishna

Konathala Ramakrishna (born 4 January 1957) is an Indian politician from Andhra Pradesh. He is a two-time Member of Parliament and also a former MLA from Anakapalli Constituency and a minister in the late Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy government.

Early life and education
Ramakrishna was born in Anakapalli in a business family of Gavara community. His father is Konathala Subramanyam.

Career
Ramakrishna started his political career with Indian National Congress in 1982. In 1989, he contested as an MP candidate of Congress from Anakapalli Parliamentary Constituency and won by a slender margin of 9 votes defeating Telugu Desam Party candidate P. Appalanarasimham. He retained the MP seat for Congress defeating the same candidate in 1991. However, he lost the same seat in the 1996 Indian General Election in Andhra Pradesh.

In the 2004 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Election he won as a Congress candidate against Dadi Veerabhadra Rao of Telugu Desam Party. He was the Minister for Commercial Taxes in the late Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy government from 2004 to 2009. In 2009, he lost the MLA seat to Ganta Srinivasa Rao of Praja Rajyam Party. After the death of former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy, he joined YSR Congress Party and supported Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. But later, he quit the party. In June 2016, he staged a dharna to demand funds for the Babu Jagjeevanram Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi irrigation project.

He is nominated to contest the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Election from Anakapalli Constituency on Jana Sena Party which he joined in January 2024. Thus, he joined his long-time political rival Dadi Veerabhadra Rao in the three-party political alliance of Telugu Desam, BJP and Jana Sena, and vowed to defeat YSRCP. He said that they were only political rivals but always had good relationship outside politics. However, many TDP cadre were unhappy that a turncoat was given the seat.