By IANS,
Hyderabad : N. Kiran Kumar Reddy of the Congress party was Thursday elected unopposed as the speaker of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly but the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) voiced its reservations on the choice of the ruling party.
Leaders of TDP and its allies made their reservations known to the house by not accompanying Kiran Kumar to the chair after protem speaker J.C. Diwakar Reddy announced his election as the speaker of the 13th assembly.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president K. Chiranjeevi, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader G. Kishan Reddy and Lok Satta chief Jayaprakash Narayan escorted Kiran Kumar to the chair amid thumping of desks by legislators.
They waited for some time for leader of opposition and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Commuinst Party of India and Communist Party of India-Marxist to join them but none of them rose from their seats.
Kiran Kumar Reddy, 49, is a four-time legislator from Pileru assembly constituency. He is known as a bitter critic of Naidu and TDP. They both come from Chittoor district.
Immediately after he took over, the house witnessed stormy scenes. Instead of speaking himself to congratulate the speaker, Naidu fielded senior party legislator and former minister Ashok Gajapati Raju.
The TDP leader said the ruling party should have consulted other parties on the issue. He found fault with the Congress party’s choice while pointing out that both the chief minister and the speaker come from the same region (Rayalaseema) and the same caste (Reddy).
The Congress took exception to Raju’s remarks. Rajasekhara Reddy intervened to say that he has no caste and alleged that Raju is trying to denigrate the post of speaker. He wondered why TDP did not contest for the post.
Naidu also intervened to clarify that he has no problem with Kiran Kumar as the speaker.
However, Raju’s remark “what is that you want” made while addressing the speaker evoked strong reaction from Congress and MIM members. The speaker later expunged the remark from the records.
Bureaucrat-turned-politician Jayaprakash Narayan wanted the ruling party to leave the post of deputy speaker for the opposition.
The chief minister hoped that the rich political experience of Kiran Kumar would come handy for him in smooth running of the assembly.