5 months ago
75
Playing the Dalit card, the Congress leadership on December 7, 2023, announced the appointment of Gaddam Prasad Kumar as the Speaker of Telangana Legislative Assembly.
The soft spoken, non-controversial low profile former Minister was elected from Vikarabad SC constituency. He first entered the Assembly in combined Andhra Pradesh from Vikarabad constituency on Congress ticket in 2009.
He was inducted into the Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet as Minister for Handlooms and Textiles in 2012 and was there till 2014, when the State was bifurcated into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In the 2014 and 2018 Assembly elections, Mr. Prasad Kumar was defeated by the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (previously TRS) candidates B. Sanjeev Rao and Dr. Methuku Anand.
But, Mr. Prasad Kumar trounced sitting BRS MLA Dr. Methuku Anand in the November 30 election by a margin of 12,893 votes. The incumbent Speaker secured 86,885 votes against BRS nominees 73,992 votes.
Since the bifurcation of the State, Madhusudhana Chary was the first Speaker of the Telangana Assembly followed by Parige Srinivas Reddy as the second Speaker from 2018 to 2023. Mr. Srinivas Reddy has been re-elected from Banswada constituency in Kamareddy district while Mr. Madhusudhana Chary is an MLC in the Telangana Legislative Council.
The Congress party by making a Dalit the Speaker of the Assembly has sent a clear message that that it is committed to empowerment of the weaker sections particularly the Dalits. By choosing a Dalit as the Speaker and making Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka as the Deputy Chief Minister the Congress party has put the BRS and the BJP in a sort of a spot.
The BJP in a bid to woo the Dalits in a big way had openly backed the sub-categorisation of the SC’s by embracing the dominant Madiga sub-caste in Telangana. The party had eyed the Madiga vote bank.
