HYDERABAD, DEC 14  :   Senior Congress leader and former Minister Gaddam Prasad Kumar was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the third Telangana Legislative Assembly here on Thursday.

Born in Vikarabad of Ranga Reddy in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, Kumar was the first Dalit speaker elected to the Telangana Assembly with the support of all MLAs irrespective of political parties .

He was elected unopposed as no other nomination was filed on Wednesday, said Pro-Tem Speaker Akbaruddin Owaisi.

His candidature was proposed by 23 members, including those from the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), he announced in the house today.

Before announcing the election of the new Speaker, the Pro-Tem Speaker administered the oath for Members, who could not attend the December 9 ceremony.

Kumar, who had earlier served as a Minister in the Congress government in united Andhra Pradesh, would be the third speaker of the Telangana Assembly.

He was preceded by S.Madhusudhana Chary who occupied the chair in the first Telangana Assembly (2014-2019) and Pocharam Srinivas Reddy in the second assembly ( 2019-2023).

Extending his wishes to the newly elected Speaker, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy thanked members from all the parties, including BRS, AIMIM and CPI for extending their support paving way for the unanimous election of the Speaker.
Stating that the Speaker had commenced his political career as an MPTC, then Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency, MLA and had also served as Handlooms Minister, he said.

BRS working president and MLA KT Rama Rao, who also congratulated the newly elected speaker, expressed hope that he would uphold the values set by his predecessors Madhusudhana Chary and Pocharam Srinivas Reddy in the Assembly.

AIMIM MLA Ahmed Bin Balala, CPI MLA K Sambasiva Rao, and other Members from Congress and BRS congratulated the Speaker.

Soon after Prasad took charge as the new Speaker, BJP members entered the house.
The Speaker administered oath to the eight BJP MLAs.

Addressing the nembers, the Speaker thanked all the parties for extending their support for his unanimous election.
“I seek the cooperation of all the members in running the Assembly smoothly and in an efficient manner,” Prasad added.

The Assembly has been adjourned to meet at 11.30 am on Friday.
Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan will address the members of both the houses of Legislature tomorrow.
The Telangana Legislative Council will also meet for its Nineteenth Session at 1130 hours on December 15.(UNI)