Raghuramakrishna Raju Appointed Deputy Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Assembly

Highlights

TDP MLA Kanumuru Raghuramakrishna Raju, a former rebel against YSRCP, has been appointed as the Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu finalised the name of Kanumuru Raghuramakrishna Raju as the Deputy Speaker on Tuesday.

The official notification for the post of Deputy Speaker will be released on Wednesday or Thursday. Raghurama's election to this post is expected to be a mere formality.

In the 2019 elections, he won the Narasapuram Lok Sabha seat as a candidate of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), but soon after, he rebelled against the YSRCP government.

His opposition to Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's administration became prominent. Raghurama exposed corruption and irregularities in the ruling party, particularly through his “Ratchabanda” (public outreach) initiative.

Angered by his criticism, the YSRCP government filed a case of sedition against him and subjected him to custodial torture.

Since then, Raghurama has been a vocal critic of the government, particularly regarding issues involving Chief Minister Jagan and his associates.

As a result of his vocal criticism, Raghurama faced constant harassment by YSRCP leaders, who tried to prevent him from returning to Andhra Pradesh.

He was accused of misuse of power and spent much of his time in Delhi during this period. After the coalition government took power, Raghurama filed a case in Guntur against the police officers who allegedly tortured him during his detention.

The complaint named Chief Minister Jagan and several senior police officials.

In addition, Raghurama has been actively involved in a legal battle in the Supreme Court, seeking to expedite the investigation into Jagan's illegal assets and to transfer the case from the Telangana High Court to another jurisdiction.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, Raghurama resigned from the YSRCP and joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

He contested the elections from the West Godavari district and won as an MLA.

-