AP Assembly Speaker Thammineni Sitharam had issued notices to eight MLAs representing the ruling YSR Congress and the opposition TDP. He asked them to attend before him on January 29 and give their explanation.

Those who received the notice from the speaker included, Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan, Karanam Balaramakrishna Murthy, Maddali Giridhar and Vasupalli Ganesh from the TDP and Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy and Undavalli Sridevi from the YSR Congress.

The TDP also wrote a letter to the speaker seeking action against its four MLAs who defected to the ruling YSR Congress. While Vamsi Mohan had defected to the party early in 2020, the other MLAs defected to the party in 2021. They have become associate members of the ruling party. The TDP sought their disqualification for the floor crossing.

The speaker had asked the ruling YSR Congress MLAs to appear before him in the morning hours of January 29, while the TDP MLAs were asked to appear before him in the afternoon hours on the day.

The YSR Congress had sought the disqualification of the four MLAs on the ground that they were suspended from the party. The party had written to the speaker requesting him to take action against the four MLAs. The MLAs were suspended following the charge that they voted for the TDP candidate in the MLC elections.

The decision was taken as the Rajya Sabha elections are fast approaching. The RS elections are scheduled in March this year. Three members from the Upper House are scheduled to retire in April this year. Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar of the TDP, C M Ramesh of the BJP, and Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy of the YSR Congress are retiring in April and the election will be held in March.

The TDP would fall short of 19 MLAs and will not have strength to field its candidate. The ruling YSR Congress would have a cake walk in the elections. The ruling YSR Congress is likely to win all the three Rajya Sabha seats once the eight MLAs are suspended.

There’s an interesting sentiment associated with the Speaker’s post in Telugu states. Those who were elected speaker of the Assembly, not only lost their next elections but also faded politically. They could never regain their political charm.

Believe it or not. This is a very strong sentiment in Telugu politics. Senior leaders like Pratibha Bharati and Nadendla Manonar were speakers. They could not win their next election. Ditto with Kiran Kumar Reddy. He was made speaker in 2009. He even went on to become the CM post YSR’s demise. He did not even contest the 2014 elections. Soon after this, he faded into political oblivion. In 2004, Though his name crops up once in a while, there seems to be no political future for him. Even earlier, those who became speakers, lost their next elections.

The first speaker of the newly-carved out Telangana, Madhusudanachary, lost the 2018 elections. He has been languishing in obscurity ever since. In AP, the first speaker after the bifurcation, Kodela Sivaprasad lost the 2019 elections. He died later under unfortunate circumstances. There is also a belief that those who become endowments ministers do not win the elections the next time.

Sources in the know say that this is one of the reasons why Tammineni Sitaram wants to get out of the speaker’s post. Sources say he is desperately trying to get into the government and become a minister. Tammineni was a minister during the 1999-2004 period. Since then, he kept on changing parties but could not win an election. It was only in 2019 that he was again elected. But this time, he was made a speaker.

AP Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram heads a constitutional institution like the AP Assembly. Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar is also heading a constitutional institution like the State Election Commission (SEC). Both Tammineni and Ramesh Kumar should act unbiased considering their respective roles as heads of constitutional institutions.

But now, they are coming into a conflict. Ramesh Kumar has decided to go ahead with the election and held a press conference. On his part, Sitaram took strong objection and accused Ramesh of addressing a political press conference rather than a meeting to brief the election arrangements. The way the Assembly Speaker directly launched an attack on a fellow head of a constitutional institution is taking political circles by surprise.

Tammineni says there is a medical emergency in the State right now. Migrant labourers will come if the elections are held now. Then it will be a big problem and the public health will be in a huge risk.

The Speaker also asks who will take responsibility if Coronavirus second wave will have a very heavy impact if election is held. He suggested to the SEC to go for a referendum on the election if needed.

It’s a narrow escape for Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram today. He escaped unhurt in an accident that took place near Vanjangi in Amadalavalasa in Srikakulam district.
The driver ran the Speaker’s car into the nearby agricultural fields while trying to avoid hitting an autorickshaw. However, the auto turned upside down under the impact of the mishap. Four passengers in the autorickshaw sustained injuries.
The Speaker’s driver became alert and drove the car into the fields. It avoided a major accident. Tammineni was safe and he didn’t sustain any injuries.
The officials immediately rushed to the spot on learning about the incident. The ruling party leaders arrived at the spot and enquired about the mishap.
The Speaker has been mostly staying in Srikakulam district and attending programmes locally after the Assembly activities were cut short significantly because of the Coronavirus restrictions.

AP Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram once again launched his attack on the courts on the issue of 3 Capitals bills. He asserted that the courts have no authority to meddle with the legislative business. They can’t interfere with the procedures in Assembly or Council. Former Speaker Yanamala Ramakrishnudu himself gave a ruling in 1997 that the courts should not meddle with the affairs of legislature. That ruling was still in practice. The same Ramakrishnudu is now opposing his own ruling.

Sitaram is not new to controversies. On an earlier occasion, he made a controversial statement saying that the courts and judges should come and rule the State instead of constantly interfering with the government. However, this time, the Speaker made rather mild comments. Even then, his comments came at a time when the High Court had already put brakes on the immediate Capital shifting plans of CM Jaganmohan Reddy.

Sitaram, being the Speaker, should desist from taking political sides. But he is freely crossing the democratic traditions. He is also commenting on the decision of the Council Chairman. Sitaram says there is no Select Committee that is in existence right now. So, there is no scope for the argument that the 3 Capital bills have no approval of the Council. Sitaram says that the question of the Select Committee would arise only when it was formed. He forgot the fact that the Council Chairman had issued orders for the Select Committee and the process of forming it was still on.

Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram has landed in legal soup for his comments on the judiciary.

A Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha activist filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court stating that Tammineni Sitaram’s recent comments that the judiciary was interfering in the policy decisions of the state government will undermine the courts and lower the dignity of the judges.

Reacting to a series of recent pronouncements by the High Court against the state government’s policy decisions, Sitaram commented that where was the need for the people to elect MLAs and MPs if the courts can decide what the state government should do. “What is the purpose of elections. It appears that the judges want to run the affairs of the government. Can the state be ruled from court halls. If that is the case, is there a need to elect a chief minister, MLAs or MPs,” he questioned.

The petitioner contended that it was unbecoming on the part of the Speaker to make such comments. He argued that the Speaker, of late, has lowered the dignity and the high standards of ethics and impartiality attached to his office with his recent comments.

Tammineni Sitaram comments come in the wake of a series of judgements by the High Court in the recent past against the Jagan government. The state government had to swallow a bitter pill in various cases including reinstatement of Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar as SEC, removal of party colours on government buildings and panchayat offices, scrapping of a GO to implement English medium in government schools, CBI probe into the assault on Dalit doctor Sudhakar Rao and the reinstatement of former state intelligence chief AB Venkateshwar Rao who was suspended by the AP government.

Earlier, the Speaker, a constitutional authority, without exercising restraint slammed at the election commissioner, another constitutional authority, in the most undesirable words. “Nee Abba Jagir aa,” he had fumed at the election commissioner after Ramesh Kumar put off civic body polls. He further stated that people will thrash the election commissioner if he steps out on the streets, while stating that Ramesh Kumar’s decision to postpone the elections was undemocratic. “What does he think of himself? Probably, Ramesh Kumar thinks he is the chief minister of this state. The constitutional body is being managed by some individuals,” he lashed out. On the election commission’s decision to put off the elections in view of the coronavirus scare, he said, “It was not due to coronavirus. It is Kammona virus.”

For the last seven months, AP Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram has functioned from Amaravati Capital City. Now, he is making sensational comments against the place. Sitaram said that whenever he visited Amaravati all these days, he has felt like entering a desert in Rajasthan state. He never got the feeling of going to a normal place or a capital city. Sitaram said that he never got the feeling that Amaravati was like a Capital City for him. Of course, it is not surprising. He is apparently overjoyed over Andhra Capital being shifted nearer to his native district of Srikakulam. Till now, YCP Ministers have called Amaravati as a burial ground and a cremation ground.

Speaker Sitaram’s comments provoked feelings of Amaravati farmers and hurt their sentiments. The same Sitaram has said in the beginning that farmers have made huge sacrifices by donating their lush green ancestral agricultural lands for Capital City construction. Almost all YCP MLAs are playing second fiddle to CM Jagan Reddy. YCP Capital City MLA Vundavalli Sridevi has not even met her own party farmers in Amaravati after Three Capitals announcement. While YCP leaders are supporting Capital shifting, all sections of people in Krishna and Guntur districts are rising in revolt against Jagan Reddy proposals.