Padma Devender Telangana Assembly Deputy Speaker

Medak MLA M Padma Devender Reddy was unanimously elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Telangana State Legislative Assembly in Hyderabad on Thursday.

As soon as the House met on Thursday at 10am, Speaker S Madhusudana Chary announced the election of Padma Devender Reddy for the post of the Deputy Speaker.

Since only one nomination had been filed for the post, she was elected unopposed.

Following the Speaker's announcement, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Deputy CM Dr T Rajaiah, Legislative Affairs Minister T Harish Rao, Congress MLAs K Jana Reddy and J Geetha Reddy, TDP floor leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao, MIM MLA Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri, BJP floor leader Dr K Lakshman, and other legislators of different parties escorted Padma Devender Reddy to the Chair.

KCR welcomed the unanimous election of Padma Devender Reddy for the Deputy Speaker's post, and said that her election proved the commitment of the TRS government towards the empowerment of women.

Leaders of other political parties, too, welcomed the election and congratulated the Deputy Speaker.

Born on January 6, 1969, in Karimnagar, Padma Devender Reddy is a law graduate.

She served as the Zilla Parishad president from Ramayampet. She got elected to the Assembly from the Ramayampet constituency in 2004 on a TRS ticket.

However, the TRS denied her a ticket in the 2009 elections, forcing her to contest as a rebel. She lost the election, and was also suspended from the TRS.

She rejoined the TRS in 2010, and won from the Medak seat in the 2014 general elections. She defeated former actress and TRS rebel MP Vijaya Shanti, who contested on a Congress ticket. (INN)