Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, 48, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate for the Guntur Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh that goes to polls on May 13, is the richest contestant in these polls so far, with his family owning assets worth Rs 5,705 crore. Pemmasani is set to make his poll debut in these elections.
A medical doctor who completed his MBBS from the Dr NTR University of Health Sciences in 1999, Pemmasani went to receive an MD in internal medicine from the Geisinger Medical Centre in Pennsylvania, USA, in 2005. While he is settled abroad, TDP leaders said that he visits his native place “regularly”.
Incidentally, in Guntur, Pemmasani replaces another rich candidate of the TDP — Galla Jayadev, the MD of Amara Raja Group who had declared assets worth Rs 680 crore in 2019 and announced his retirement from politics ahead of the elections.
TDP leader Pattbhi Ram Reddy, seen as close to Pemmasani, claimed that he and his family, hailing from Burripalem village of Tenali, have been supporters of the party for a long time, and that his father who owned a business in Narasaropet was also a TDP leader. Calling him “a very successful and renowned doctor”, the leader said: “Pemmasani has developed a curriculum for students appearing for medical entrance tests in the US and helped in developing some apps and software for students.”
Pemmasani developed UWorld – an online learning service that helps students prepare for exams like the SAT, MCAT and United States Medical Licensing Examination — when just 25 and working at Johns Hopkins University. In 2020, he won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Pemmasani remains the CEO of UWorld
In Narasaopet, Pemmasani is well-known for philanthropic activities such as constructing a school and for organising social activities. According to TDP leaders, he first started taking an active interest in political and campaign work during the 2014 elections, and was also involved in 2019. He is also active in the TDP’s non-resident Indian cell.
“This is the first time he has openly expressed his desire to contest. He has a clean record and although he has declared crores worth of assets, everything is accounted for. After Galla Jayadev announced that he wants a break from politics, Dr Chandra Shekar started preparing the ground to contest,” TDP leader N Vijay Kumar said.
As per his affidavit, Pemmasani has investments in more than 100 companies and has declared income both in India and the US. He has listed two Mercedes cars, one Tesla and a Rolls Royce under his movable assets. He also owns land and property in Hyderabad, Tenali and the US.
Pemmasani also has liabilities amounting to Rs 1,038 crore and has one pending FIR against him for IPC offences related to Illegal payments in connection with an election and bribery.
Pemmasani’s main rival is the YSRCP’s Kilari Venkata Rosaiah, who is the sitting party MLA from Ponnur.
In 2019, the TDP’s Galla Jaydev defeated the YSRCP’s M Venugopal Reddy by a narrow margin of 4,205 votes.
