Maverick politician and deputy speaker of Andhra Pradesh state assembly K Raghu Ramakrishnam Raju has at last got the recognition what he has been expecting from chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
For the first time in the history of the state assembly, the Naidu government has granted the cabinet rank status to Raju, though there was no such precedent for giving such a status to the deputy speaker of the assembly.
Official orders to this effect have been issued by Political Secretary Suresh Kumar.
Raju will enjoy the cabinet rank status as long as he serves as the deputy speaker. In accordance with cabinet rank, he will be provided with protocol and security arrangements.
Source said this is the first time in the history of Andhra Pradesh that a deputy speaker has been granted cabinet status.
In the 2019 general elections, Raghurama Krishna Raju contested and won from the Narasapuram Lok Sabha constituency as a candidate of the YSR Congress Party (YCP).
However, he later had disagreements with the party and its leader Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's policies, leading to his suspension from the party.
In the run-up to the 2024 general elections, Raju joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). While he had hoped to contest for the Narasapuram MP seat again, the seat was allocated to the BJP as part of an alliance.
Consequently, Naidu fielded him from the Undi assembly constituency. Proving the leader’s trust, Raju won the seat with a margin of over 50,000 votes. There was speculation that he would be given a ministerial position in the TDP-led alliance government.
However, due to social balancing and coalition politics, he missed out on the post. Later, there were rumours of him being appointed as Assembly Speaker, but senior leader Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu was ultimately elected to that role.
Finally, Raju was nominated for the post of deputy speaker and now, he has been given the cabinet rank. This fulfils his desire to get the protocol of a minister.
