The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced new leaders for four states today. According to PTI, most of the positions were given to those who recently joined BJP from other parties. Some of the appointees include Sunil Jakhar and D Purandeswari, who switched from Congress, and Etela Rajender, who left BRS.

D Purandeswari, a former Union minister, will now lead BJP in Andhra Pradesh, replacing Somu Veerraju. D Purandeswari, a prominent politician from Andhra Pradesh, is known as the “Sushma Swaraj of the South” due to her passionate speeches.

As an MLA of Congress, Purandeswari represented the Visakhapatnam constituency of Andhra Pradesh in the 15th Lok Sabha of India. She defeated Palla Srinivasa Rao of the Telugu Desam Party in the elections.

On March 7, 2014, she joined BJP after resigning from the Indian National Congress to protest against the division of Andhra Pradesh supported by the United Progressive Alliance government at the time.

Since November 13, 2020, she has served as the appointed state in charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Odisha unit. Now, she has been appointed as the President of Andhra Pradesh by BJP.

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Purandeswari completed her schooling in Chennai. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature in 1979 from the South Indian Educational Trust and Women’s College, later named Bashir Ahmed Sayeed College for Women. In 1996, she pursued a Diploma in gemmology from the Gemological Institute of India.

She got married to Daggubati Venkateswara Rao on May 9, 1979, and they have two children, a daughter named Nivedita and a son named Hitesh Chenchuram.

Purandeswari is the sister of Nandamuri Harikrishna and Nandamuri Balakrishna. She is the sister-in-law of N Chandrababu Naidu, the niece of N Trivikrama Rao, and the aunt of Nara Lokesh, Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, NT Rama Rao Jr, Nandamuri Suhasini, and Taraka Ratna.