The Andhra Pradesh Assembly session is set to begin on June 21, marking the start of legislative proceedings for the newly elected members. On the opening day, all the MLAs who secured victories in the recent assembly elections will be sworn in. A senior member among the elected MLAs will be nominated by the Governor as the Protem Speaker, who will administer the oath to the new members. The Assembly will continue on the next day June 22 as well.
The AP Assembly comprises 175 MLAs, with 135 from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), 21 from Jana Sena, 11 from Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), and 8 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The alliance between TDP, Jana Sena, and BJP resulted in a combined total of 164 MLAs from these parties, all of whom are expected to take their oaths on Monday. Following the oath-taking ceremony, the election of the Speaker is scheduled. Reports suggest that the Telugu Desam Party has already decided on Narsipatnam MLA Chintakayala Ayyannapatrudu as their nominee for Speaker. The assembly sessions, starting from the 24th, will offer an opportunity for all MLAs to participate in legislative discussions. A point of interest is the attendance of the 11 MLAs from the YSR Congress Party. With the commencement of the assembly sessions, the YSRCP floor leader needs to be elected, but no official announcement has been made regarding the leader. Given that the YSRCP did not secure opposition status, speculation surrounds who Jagan Mohan Reddy will choose as the leader of the YSRCP. The longstanding animosity between TDP and YCP raises questions about potential confrontations in the assembly. This tension has led to doubts about whether Jagan will assume the role of the YSRCP leader or delegate it to a senior party member, such as Punganur MLA Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy. Uncertainty also looms large over whether Jagan and YCP MLAs will attend the session on Wednesday. There is speculation that if Jagan skips the session, it may signal a retreat, prompting all YSRCP MLAs to abstain from the oath-taking and complete it later in the Speaker’s chamber. Alternatively, the MLAs might attend the session and take their oaths, while Jagan stays away from the meetings starting on June 24. The final decision from Jagan and the YSRCP is anticipated to become clear in the coming days.