Senior TDP leader and former Minister Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu was unanimously elected as Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Saturday.
As Patrudu’s was the only nomination received for the post, Pro-tem Speaker G. Butchaiah Chowdary announced his unanimous election for the post.
Legislators of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its coalition partners Jana Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hailed Ayyanna Patrudu’s election with the thumping of desks.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and some senior ministers guided Ayyanna Patrudu to the chair and congratulated him.
The Speaker was elected on the second day of the first Assembly session following the formation of the government by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
Leaders of NDA had Friday submitted nomination papers to the Secretary General of the Assembly, P.P.K. Ramacharyulu on behalf of Ayyanna Patrudu.
Patrudu was elected from Narsipatnam Assembly constituency in Anakapalle for a seventh term in the recent elections. He is the third Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly after bifurcation.
A key leader of backward classes from north-coastal Andhra Pradesh, Patrudu had also served as MP from Anakapalle (1996-98).
The 66-year-old began his political career with the TDP after it was floated by legendary actor N.T. Rama Rao in 1982. He was first elected to the Assembly from Narsipatnam in 1983 and retained the seat in 1985. He was elected again on TDP tickets in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2014 and 2024.
Patrudu served as a minister of technical education, roads, buildings and ports in N.T. Rama Rao’s Cabinets in 1984-1986 and 1994-95.
He was minister of forests, environment, science and technology in the government headed by Chandrababu Naidu in 1999-2004.
In the first TDP government in bifurcated Andhra Pradesh (2014-2019), Patrudu served as the minister for panchayat raj, rural water supply, roads and buildings.