KE Krishna Murthy, Telugu Desam legislator from Dhone in Kurnool District, has been appointed as the new chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). A notification to this effect was issued on Thursday.
Incumbent Revuri Prakash Reddy, who represents Wardhannapet in Warangal district in the Assembly, resigned as PAC chairman on Wednesday following a directive from party president N Chandrababu Nadiu. Though Reddy was chairman of the PAC for only a year, he was asked to step down to facilitate Murthy’s takeover as the new chairman.
A jubilant Krishna Murthy dismissed as baseless the reports that Prakash Reddy was forced to resign. “Earlier, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu from coastal Andhra was the chairman. Later, Nagam Janardhan Reddy from the Telangana region was appointed. By turn a Rayalaseema MLA should become the PAC chairman and I made a request to this effect. Since Revuri wanted to be the PAC chairman at least for one year after Nagam left, he was nominated last year. Now he has resigned to make way for me to become the PAC chairman,” Murthy explained.
He said he was nominated to the position by his party because it had thought he would be able to handle the responsibility better since he had the experience of being on several such panels at all India level. “When I was MP I was on the standing committees of defence, telecommunications, delimitation and estimates. My party probably felt that I fitted the bill better than anyone else from the Rayalaseema region,” he claimed.
But sources said Naidu had to nominate Murthy to the position since the TDP was weak in Kurnool district after Bhuma family’s exit. At present, the only other influential family in the district is Krishna Murthy’s. If he is not made PAC chief, there is the possibility of his looking at alternatives, sources say.