TIRUPATI: Former MP and senior Congress leader Chinta Mohan was appointed a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on September 11. He is the only leader inducted into the CWC from Andhra Pradesh. Acclaimed as a well-known political strategist in the Congress, Mohan started working with the party as a Youth Congress leader from April 1974. At that time, he started a movement seeking scholarships for SC, ST and BC students. He met former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the issue in 1974 and succeeded in getting scholarships granted for SC, ST and BC students.
Further, Savita Ambedkar, wife of Dr BR Ambedkar, noticed the leadership qualities of Mohan and urged the Congress to induct him into the party. Mohan was elected an MP from Tirupati in 1984 for the first time. He raised Karamchedu massacre in Parliament in 1985 and strove for the enactment SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. He worked as Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers in the Cabinet of PV Narasimha Rao in 1990.
Mohan, a close associate of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Communist leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet and BSP founder Kanshi Ram, played a crucial role in Punjab elections in 1992. He motivated the Left and other parties to involve in the electoral process, while in Punjab was reeling under terrorist activities.
The six-time MP had opposed privatisation of the public sector undertakings in the Congress meetings.
In 2004 and 2009, Congress bagged Tirupati Lok Sabha seat with its candidate Mohan polling 40.36 and 60.06 per cent of the total votes respectively. In 1984, 1989, 1991 and 1998 elections, he won the seat with a good majority.