IN AUGUST COMPANY

The entrepreneur-politicians who will now help steer national policy

- Dhaval S. Kulkarni, Rohit Parihar, Amarnath K. Menon, Avishek G. Dastidar, Jumana Shah, Ajay Sukumaran, Prashant Srivastava, Arkamoy Datta Majumdar and Amitabh Srivastava

THE DEBUTANTS BUSINESSMEN

SRIBHARAT MATHUKUMILLI, 35

TDP Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

As the grandson of the late M.V.V.S. Murthia two-time MP from Visakhapatnam-Sribharat has inherited more than just a name. He presides over GlTAM, a deemed-to-be university founded by his grandfather in 1980 which now boasts a network of four campuses.

Sribharat's own academic pedigree is equally noteworthy. An alumnus of Stanford University, US, he holds a joint MBA/MA degree and has founded the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad.

With declared assets of Rs 232.5 crore, the young tycoon has also strategically invested in several start-ups.

PRABHAKAR REDDY VEMIREDDY, 68 TDP | Nellore, Andhra Pradesh

Elected to the Rajya Sabha on a YSRCP ticket in 2018, Vemireddy quit to join the TDP ahead of I the general election. A graduate from Chennai's Loyola College, his business operations have evolved from a small contracting firm in the 1990s to a major mining and irrigation firm-VPR Mining Infra. The VPR Foundation, launched in 2015, is involved in education, health and development works in Nellore.

Vemireddy's wife, Prashanthi, was elected from Kovur in the simultaneous assembly election. Together, the power couple has declared assets worth Rs 716 crore.

C.M. RAMESH, 59 |BJP | Anakapalle, Andhra Pradesh

A two-term Rajya Sabha member, the industrialist had switched to the BJP from the TDP in 2019. He dropped out of college but went on to establish Rithwik Projects in 1999-an integrated construction, infrastructure development and management company.