Mekapati Goutham Reddy (2 November 1971 – 21 February 2022) was an Indian businessman and politician from the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was the Minister for Industries, Commerce, and Information Technology in the Government of Andhra Pradesh. He was elected twice and served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly representing the Atmakur Assembly constituency on behalf of YSR Congress Party from 2014 until his death in 2022. As a minister, he made efforts in framing new policies in industrial and IT sectors. He viewed information technology (IT) to be the factor that would transform Andhra Pradesh to be a trillion-dollar economy. He led a delegation team to Dubai Expo 2020 in February 2022 in order to attract investments to the state. Personal life Mekapati Goutham Reddy was born on 2 November 1971 to Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and Mani Manjari. He hailed from Brahmanapalli village in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. He had two brothers, Prithvi Kumar Reddy and Vikram Reddy. His father, Rajamohan Reddy, was a former Member of Parliament of Nellore Lok Sabha constituency. His paternal uncle, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, is a politician and is the current MLA representing Udayagiri Assembly constituency. Reddy did his schooling in Good Shepherd International School in Ooty, Tamil Nadu and graduated from Badruka College of Commerce and Arts, Hyderabad. He pursued his Master's degree in Apparel and Textiles during 1994 and 1997 from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He was married to Srikeerthi and the couple had two children, a son and a daughter. He was tested positive for COVID-19 twice, once in April 2021 and later in January 2022. Business career Reddy had been managing KMC Constructions since his post-graduation in 1997. He, along with his family, had controlling shares in several companies including KMC Constructions, KMC Road Holdings, KMC Infratech, Guruvayoor Infrastructure, Brindavan Infrastructure, Krishnarjuna Real Estates, Andaman Angling Agency, Pink City Expressway, Rayalaseema Expressway and North Malabar Expressway. These companies operate in road construction, real estate and infrastructure sectors. Political career Reddy started his political career in 2014 contesting from the Atmakur constituency on behalf of YSR Congress Party. He won the 2014 election as the MLA against the incumbent Anam Ramanarayana Reddy of Indian National Congress and defeated his closest opponent, GM Kanna Babu, of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with a majority of 31,412 votes polled for him. In