YSRCP MLA Kona Raghupathi is elected as Deputy Speaker

Amaravati: YSRCP MLA from Bapatla Assembly constituency Kona Raghupathi was unanimously elected as Deputy Speaker by the MLAs in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu cordially invited him to the chair of the Speaker after the election.

Congratulating Raghupathi, Speaker Tammineni Sitaram offered the chair to him for about an hour as a courtesy. After that all the MLAs including members of both the ruling party and Opposition congratulated Raghupathi by meeting him personally.

Speaking on this occasion, Jagan urged the Deputy Speaker to conduct the House in such a manner to uphold the integrity and dignity.

He also urged the Deputy Speaker to give equal priority to the Opposition party along with the ruling party, even though they did not have good number in the Lower House.

Opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu said that electing Raghupathi as Deputy Speaker was a happy moment in the House and the TDP supported his election as he was a non-controversial person.

He further pointed out that Raghupathi's father served as Speaker of the Assembly, Governor for three States and Minister for Finance.

Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita, YSRCP MLAs M Nagarjuna, Md Mustafa, Ambati Rambabu, TDP MLAs Karanam Balaramakrishna Murthy and Anagani Satyaprasad hailed the election of Raghupathi as Deputy Speaker.