Senior Congress MLA from Vikarabad Gaddam Prasad Kumar will be the first Dalit Speaker of the third Telangana state assembly with all the political parties extending support to his candidature for the coveted post.
Prasad Kumar filed his nomination on Wednesday and since no other candidate stood in the contest, he has emerged as the unanimous choice for the Speaker’s post.
His name will be formally announced by pro-tem Speaker Asaduddin Owaisi in the assembly, when it reassembles for the formal address of Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday.
The post was earlier held by S Madhusudhana Chary between 2014 and 2018 and later by Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, both of the BRS.
State legislative affairs minister D Sridhar Babu sought the support of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti Legislative Party (BRSLP) to support the candidature of Kumar for the Speaker’s post so that he could be elected unanimously.
He, along with health minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, made a formal request to this effect to the BRSLP floor leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, whom they called in Yashoda Hospitals on Wednesday. KCR is is recuperating after a total hip replacement surgery at the hospital last week.
They also requested BRS working president K T Rama Rao, who was also present in the hospital, for support of the main opposition party for facilitating the unanimous election of the Speaker.
The BRS leaders assured to extend support to Rama Rao has assured the Ministers of support from the BRS, with its senior leaders to represent the BRS at the nomination of Prasad Kumar.
The Congress candidate also got the support from Bharatiya Janata Party and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).