Senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former minister, Ayyana Patrudu, is likely to be the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
Chief Minister and TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu has chosen Patrudu to be the Speaker of the assembly, reliable sources said.
Though it was widely expected that Patrudu would be given a ministerial post in recognition of his seniority and loyalty to the party, he could not find a berth in Naidu’s 24-member cabinet, which has 17 first-timers.
The assembly sessions will be held for about three days from June 24 to facilitate swearing in of the new MLAs and to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the house.
The budget session of the Assembly will be held in July as the new government will have to present the full-budget for the financial year 2024-25.
The 175-member State Assembly, has 164 members of the NDA Alliance, with TDP, Jana Sena and BJP having 135, 21 and 8 MLAs respectively. The YSR Congress Party with 11 MLAs does not qualify to get the status of the Opposition, which requires a minimum of 18 MLAs.