Ruling YSR Congress MLA Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy filed the nomination for the post of AP Assembly Deputy speaker on Friday. He would succeed Bapatla MLA Kona Raghupathi, who resigned on Thursday.
Veerabhadra Swamy would be elected as the new deputy speaker of the Assembly on September 19, when the session resumes after the weekend holidays.
The change of office was in tune with chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s decision to give chances to every section. He had already changed his cabinet ministers after three years. Accordingly, he had decided to give the chance to Veerabhadra Swamy.
Veerabhadra Swamy represents the Vysya community, which had representation in the cabinet with Velampalli Srinivas in the first three years. As Velampalli was dropped from the cabinet, the chief minister had given the deputy speaker post to the community, as a compensative measure.
Before dropping Kona Raghupathi from the post, the chief minister elevated Malladi Vishnu as vice-chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Planning Board. He was given the cabinet rank with other facilities to silence the community after dropping Raghupathi from the deputy speaker post.
