Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s decision to make former Minister and Amadalavalasa MLA-elect Tammineni Sitaram as the new Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly is being hailed by his supporters in the district.
Mr. Sitaram, who was in the limelight during the tenures of the N.T. Rama Rao and N. Chandrababu Naidu governments between 1983 and 2004, had fallen from grace later having lost the elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014.
He, however, won from his home constituency with a comfortable majority in the recent elections.
Mr. Sitaram has good relations with the family of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy for the last 30 years.
Thought he was the Minister in-charge of Kadapa district in the TDP government, he could win the confidence of Rajasekhara Reddy, who used to attend the review meetings as an MLA representing Pulivendula.
‘Oratory skills’
Known for his oratory and administrative skills, Mr. Sitaram was the lone MLA from the Kalinga community to have won the elections as Piriya Sairaj and Perada Tilak were defeated from Itchapuram and Tekkali constituencies respectively in the recent elections.
YSRCP candidate for Srikalulam Lok Sabha constituency Duvvada Srinivas was also defeated in the elections.
Leaders from the district who had occupied the top post were K. Pratibha Bharati (between 1999 and 2004) during Mr. Naidu’s tenure and Tangi Satyanarayna (1983) during NTR’s rule.
Parivaratan Trust founder Chintada Ravikumar, ARTS director Nuka Sanyasi Rao, Indian Red Cross Society chairman P. Jaganmohana Rao, and Rotary Club past president N. Mohan welcomed the development.
“Mr. Sitaram has cordial relations with the leaders of all parties. He will prove to be the best Speaker,” said Mr. Sanyasi Rao in a press release.