Hyderabad: The defeat of a favoured candidate has thrown open the question of who will be Speaker of the AP Assembly.
Chief Minister-designate Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted a Speaker from the Backward Classes community or the weaker sections. Sources close to Mr Reddy said former minister Mopidevi Venkataramana was in his mind for the post.
Mr Venkataramana lost the Assembly elections from the Repalle constituency, and Mr Reddy is again searching for a Speaker.
Five names are in circulation — those of former ministers Tammineni Sitharam and Anam Ram-narayan Reddy and legislators Kona Raghupathi, Ambati Rambabu and Golla Babu Rao.
It is learnt that former minister Dharmana Prasada Rao from Srika-kulam will be inducted in the Cabinet. The YSRC had fielded Mr Duvvada Srinivas from the Srikakulam Lok Sabha constituency but he was defeated by sitting TD MP K. Rammohan Naidu.
In Srikakulam district, the Kalingas form a dominant community. Mr Srinivas and Mr Sitharam both belong to this community. Mr Prasada Rao is from the Velama community. To strike a balance in the representation to the two communities, Mr Sitharam may be made Speaker post.
Mr Ramnarayan Reddy is a senior MLA and has vast experience as minister, But the YSRC chief doesn’t want to give the Speaker post to the Reddy community.
Mr Ambati Rambabu who defeated outgoing Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao in Sattenapalli belongs to the Kapu community. YSRC circles said Mr Rambabu is a good speaker but he is not serious and he would be more useful for the party politically than as Speaker.
Bapatla MLA Kona Raghupathi was elected for the second time as MLA and his name is under consideration for a Cabinet berth. From the Brahmin community Mr Raghupathi and Mr Malladi Vishnu from Vijayawada Central constituency won the April 11 elections.
Given the complex equations, Mr Raghupathi is also being considered for the Speaker’s post. His father Kona Prabhakar Rao was Speaker in the Legislative Assembly in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1980-81. This is also part of the reason why Mr Raghupathi’s name has come up for consideration for the Speaker’s post.
Payakaraopet (SC) legislator Golla Babu Rao, an ex-bureaucrat, is a senior legislator. As Mr Reddy wants to give the Speaker post to a candidate from the BCs or weaker sections, Mr Babu Rao stands a chance.
A YSRC source, however, said that they cannot rule out the chances for a women legislator being made Speaker of the Assembly in a surprise twist.
