YSRCP MLC K. Moshen Raju was unanimously elected Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council on Friday.
With the opposition parties deciding against fielding their candidate, pro tem speaker V. Balasubramanyam announced that Mr. Moshen Raju was elected uncontested.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues accompanied the newly-elected Chairman to the podium.
Later, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “Mr. Raju hails from a Dalit farmer family and has no political background. At the age of 20, he was elected to the Bhimavaram Municipality. He had served as councillor for four terms. Mr. Raju sailed with me for 10 years. I am happy to see him as Chairman of the Council.”
Mr. Raju’s candidature was supported by MLCs Gangula Prabahakar Reddy, Duvvada Srinivas and Balli Kalyana Chakravarthy.
Mr. Raju was the first from the SC community to rise to the position. Mr. Raju and three others were nominated under the Governor’s quota in June.
The election of new Chairman was necessitated as the term of Mohammad Ahmad Shariff (TDP) had ended in October this year.
The YSRCP had attained majority in the Council in June, two years after it came to power, following the completion of the terms of seven TDP MLCs – Y.V.B. Rajendra Prasad, B. Naga Jagadiswar Rao, Pappala Chalapathi Rao, Buddha Venkanna, Gali Saraswathi, Dwarapudi Jagadeeswara Rao and Reddy Subrahmanyam.
