HYDERABAD: Nandendla Manohar, son of former chief minister N Bhaskar Rao, is now the 12th speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
He was elected with a majority of 68 votes on Saturday.
Manohar is a postgraduate in business administration with specialisationin marketing from the Osmania University. He represents Tenali in the Assembly and is the second speaker from Guntur district after Nissanker Rao Venkataratnam who served as speaker for a brief period in 1984.
Though there were several senior members, Manohar, a second-time MLA, got elevated to the coveted post.
Till now Manohar had been the deputy speaker of the House and earned the reputation of possessing a gentle nature but acting tough while conducting the proceedings.
This was the third time that election to the post of speaker was held in the history of the Assembly.
As deputy speaker Manohar showed keen interest in bringing about changes like introduction of electronic ID cards for MLAs, webcasting, equipping MLAs with latest computers and introducing wi-fi internet to members.
Congratulating Manohar, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy described him as a hardworking politician and talented. He wanted Manohar to leave his mark on the functioning of the Assembly.
Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu complimented Manohar for his elevation to the top post at a young age.
He wanted the new speaker to allot more time to the opposition to express its views on the floor of the House.
PRP president Chiranjeevi complimented Manohar for conducting the budget session with a lot of patience even without having panel speakers. The natural choice for speaker was Manohar, Chi ranjeevi added. Several other members too congratulated the new speaker.
The election was necessitated as Kiran Kumar Reddy stepped down from the chair to assume the office of chief minister. The budget session was thus conducted without a regular speaker.
As the deputy speaker was elevated as speaker the post of deputy speaker fell vacant and needed election which was won by Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka of the Congress. It was the first time in the Assembly that elections are held for the speaker and deputy speaker posts on the same day.
The chief minister, opposition leader and others congratulated the new deputy speaker.
Vikramarka, a first-time MLA, was chief whip at the time of his election as deputy speaker.