Srinivas Reddy is new Telangana Speaker

Hyderabad, Jan 18 (IANS) Pocharam Srinivas Reddy was unanimously elected the Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Friday.

The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader was elected unopposed as no other nomination was received for the post.

The main opposition Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) extended their support for the Speaker's election.

Pro-tem Speaker Mumtaz Ahmed Khan announced Srinivas Reddy's unanimous election.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy, AIMIM MLA Ahmed Balala and TRS MLA E. Rajender conducted Srinivas Reddy to the chair.

Later Chandrashekhar Rao and leaders of other parties in their speeches congratulated him on becoming the Speaker of the second Assembly of the new state.

Srinivas Reddy, whose real name is Parige Srinivas Reddy, is popular as Pocharam Srinivas Reddy. Pocharam is the name of his native village in Kamareddy district.

According to the affidavit submitted by him, 66-year-old Srinivas Reddy is an agriculturist.

He has served as Agriculture Minister in KCR's earlier cabinet, and was re-elected to the Assembly from the Banswada constituency in the December elections.

He also served as a minister in the cabinet of N. Chandrababu Naidu in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He had quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2011 to join the TRS, which was then fighting for separate statehood for Telangana.

During his student days, Srinivas Reddy had participated in Telangana movement of 1969.

He began his political career in 1976 and became the president of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society of Dasipet village. In 1983, he joined TDP floated by actor-turned-politician N.T. Rama Rao.

Srinivas Reddy was first elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 1994. He was re-elected in 1999, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2018.