At a glance: Renuka Chowdhary, the firebrand Congress leader

New Delhi, Jul 14: The most outspoken Congress spokesperson in recent times, Renuka Chowdhary has created a niche amongst a wide list of blunt and candid politicians who hold forth their thoughts without any fear. Normally spokespersons are considered "spin doctors" and they use their words in nice diplomatese, but for Renuka, sock-it-in-your-eye remarks are part of a daily routine.Daughter of Late Air Commodore S N Chowdhary, Renuka is a graduate in B.A. Industrial Psychology from Bangalore University. She entered politics in 1984 as a member N T Rama Rao's Telugu Desam Party. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms, from 1986 to 1998. During that period, she was the Chief Whip of the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party. In 1998, she left Chandrababu Naidu's TDP to join the Congress party. She continues to be a member of the Congress party. In 1999 and 2004, she was elected to the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha respectively representing Khammam. She was also the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare from 1997 to 1998 in the cabinet of H. D. Deve Gowda. Renuka with daughter TejaswiniOther important positions she held include memberships of the Committee on Finance (1999–2000) and Committee on the Empowerment of Women (2000–2001). In the UPA government in May 2004, she became Minister of State for Tourism and also Women and Child Development three years later in 2006. Renuka's daughter PoojitaShe piloted the famous .bill to prevent domestic violence against women, hailed as a landmark law in India. Renuka performing last rites of her fatherIn the May 2009 Lok Sabha parliamentary elections, Renuka Chowdary lost from Khammam by close to 1.5 lakh votes to TDP's N Nageswara Rao. Poojita at her weddingChowdhary's bluntness was witnessed on the occasion of Valentine's Day in the year 2009 when Sri Ram Sene attacked a pub in Mangalore to target youngsters who were celebrating the day. In response to the attack, Renuka very fiercely condemned the action and said that Mangalore was `Talibanized'. She urged the youth to come out and visit pubs and not fear anyone. This act even resulted in a case against her filed by the Mayor of the city. Renuka was appointd spokesperson of the Congress party and was once again elected to Rajya Sabha in 2012.Renuka Chowdhary lit the pyre of her father Air Commodore S N Chowdary, who passed away in Hyderabad in 2011. Since Chowdary had no sons, Renuka took upon herself the task of lighting the pyre of her father and performed all the funeral rites at Punjagutta crematorium.Let's have a look at some of the most interesting pics of Renuka:Renuka with familyRenuka's daughter Tejaswini