Bandaru Dattatreya

Bandaru Dattatreya (born 12 June 1947) is an Indian politician affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), currently serving as the Governor of Haryana since 2021. A veteran parliamentarian and long-time organisational leader, he previously served as the 20th Governor of Himachal Pradesh and represented the Secunderabad constituency in the Lok Sabha across multiple terms. Over a career spanning several decades, he has held ministerial positions in the Union Government and played a prominent role in the BJP’s growth in southern India.

Early Life and Education

Dattatreya was born in Hyderabad, then part of Hyderabad State, to Bandaru Anjaiah and Eswaramma. Belonging to the Kuruba caste, he received his Bachelor of Science degree from Osmania University. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1965 and served as a pracharak from 1965 to 1968. During the 1970s he also worked with the Loka Sangarsha Samiti, associated with the Jayaprakash Narayan–led movement, and was imprisoned during the Emergency.

Political Career

Dattatreya formally entered politics in 1980 when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Soon after, he was appointed general secretary of the party’s Andhra Pradesh unit, a role he held until 1989. His electoral career began with his victory in the 1991 general election, where he won the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat with a significant margin, becoming the BJP’s sole winner from Andhra Pradesh.
In 1997 he became president of the BJP’s state unit. Although he faced defeat in the 1996 election, he returned to Parliament in 1998, defeating the same opponent by a larger margin. He was re-elected again in the 1999 general election, marking his third consecutive term.
Across the Vajpayee administrations, Dattatreya held several ministerial portfolios:

• Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (1998–1999)
• Minister of State for Urban Development (1999–2001)
• Minister of State for Railways (2001–2003)
• Minister of State for Urban Development (2003)

He lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009 but continued to remain active in the party organisation. Between 2004 and 2006 he served as national secretary and later became state unit president in 2006. In 2009 he entered the national executive, and in 2013 he was appointed national vice-president.
Dattatreya returned to Parliament in the 2014 general election, winning Secunderabad for the fourth time. Later that year he was appointed Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment in the first Modi ministry, becoming the only cabinet representative from Telangana. He resigned from this post in September 2017 and subsequently served on the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.
In 2019, he was not renominated for the general election. That same year he was appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh, serving until 2021. On 18 July 2021, he assumed office as the 18th Governor of Haryana.

Personal Life

Dattatreya married Vasantha on 17 May 1989. The couple had a daughter, Vijaya Lakshmi, and a son, Vaishnav, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 21 due to a heart attack. Beyond politics, Dattatreya has been associated with voluntary and relief organisations, including serving as joint secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Cyclone Committee.
His public image, as noted by national newspapers, reflects a reputation for being soft-spoken, non-controversial and widely acceptable across political lines in Telangana.

Legal Issues

In 2016 Dattatreya was implicated in the case involving the suicide of University of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula. He was charged under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act following allegations that his communication with the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development contributed to the suspension of Vemula and other students. Dattatreya denied wrongdoing, stating that he merely forwarded a complaint he had received. The episode drew significant public attention and sparked broader discussions on discrimination and student rights.