The city’s electronics and communications engineer Dheeraj Muniraju is one of the youngest MLAs to be elected this time. Dheeraj, 32, is now the BJP MLA representing Doddaballpur.
Dheeraj was born to P Muniraju and K Sujatha in Bangalore. The couple run a drugstore in town and are also farmers. He belongs to the Yadava community.
He did his engineering course at RV College of Engineering and pursued a Master of Science in Industrial Management from Texas A&M University in the US.
Although Dheeraj took his primary affiliation with the BJP in 2011, on his parents’ insistence, he focused on completing his engineering and masters. After completing his education, Dheeraj worked as a manager in a real estate and investment services company in Bangalore.
“Strengthening the Prime Minister’s Hands”
“Finally, I left my well-paid job because I couldn’t resist throwing myself into politics. My dream was to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring about a radical change in the progress of the country,” Dheeraj told DH.
He added that it was not easy to convince his parents, but they eventually relented. By this time, Dheeraj had set up a small real estate business.
Before entering politics, he became very active in his (Yadava) community association.
Currently, he is the president of the state unit of Yadava Sangha. He joined the BJP Yuva Morcha and was appointed vice president.
Aiming to become an MLA, he launched philanthropic works through Anjanadri Welfare Trust during the Covid-19 pandemic. His trust worked extensively with the poor and downtrodden in the constituency.
Based on his work, he sought the Doddaballapur ticket and was fielded by the BJP as part of its experiment to bring in fresh faces. He is one of the 14 new BJP candidates who won the election.
