Career
He is currently the Minister of Labour and Employment in the Narendra Modi Government. He was the president of the United Andhra Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). He was re-elected to 16th Lok Sabha from Secunderabad Constituency.
He is a BJP National Vice-President and a Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) in charge of Labour and Employment.
Dattatreya belongs to a lower caste and comes from a modest background. In 2016, Dattatreya was accused of being responsible for the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Doctor of Philosophy scholar at the University of Hyderabad.
According to Dattatreya"s critics, his letter to the Education Minister, complaining about degraded student politics, had led to Vemula"s suspension and ultimate suicide. Vemula"s suicide letter did not blame anyone, and Dattatreya denied these allegations.
Bandaru Dattatreya started his career with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Royal Statistical Society, UK).
He was a pracharak before joining the BJP. Positions held:
1980:Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Andhra Pradesh. 1981 - 1989:General-Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party, Andhra Pradesh. 1991: Elected to 10th Lok Sabha (Member, Public Accounts Committee and Committee on Welfare of SCs, STs and Minorities)
1996 - 1998:President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Andhra Pradesh.
1998:Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (2nd term).
1998 - 1999:Union Minister of State, Urban Development. 1999:Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (3rd term).
13 October 1999 - 14 June 2000:Union Minister of State, Ministry of Urban Development. 14 June 2000 - 30 June 2002:Union Minister of State, Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.
1 July 2002 - 2004:Union Minister of State, Ministry of Railways.
2014- Elected to 16th Lok Sabha from Secunderabad Constituency. 2014- BJP National Vice-President
2014- Chairman: committee on OBC"s welfare
2014- Ministry of State (Independent Charge), Labour and Employment.
