AP Assembly speaker Thammineni Sitharam had been lobbying hard for the cabinet berth right from day one of the YSR Congress Party’s victory in May 2019. He tried his best to make it to the first cabinet which was formed on June 8, 2019. However, he missed the bus and had to take up the Speaker post.

Having spent three years in the chair, Sitharam pinned all his hopes on making it to the second cabinet of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government this time. He knocked at every door to get the blessings of Jagan Mohan Reddy, but could not make it.

As the cabinet was revamped and he could not find a place, Sitharam had offered to quit the Assembly Speaker post and work for the party. Jagan Mohan Reddy had asked the former ministers to work for the party and prepare the rank and file for the 2024 elections. Similarly, Sitharam too wants to quit the post and work for the party.

Without openly expressing his discontentment over his non-inclusion in the cabinet, Sitharam wants the chief minister to give the speaker post too to someone else as the cabinet posts were given. He volunteers to vacate the post to facilitate Jagan Mohan Reddy to fill it with someone.

It is likely that the chief minister would replace the deputy speaker post which is now held by Kona Raghupathi. The YSR Congress leaders say that the post would now be given to Vizianagaram MLA Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy, who represents the Vysya community, which has no representation in the cabinet now.

If Sitharam also quits, it would give another chance to Jagan Mohan Reddy to fill the post by giving promotion to deputy speaker Kona Raghupathi. In such a case the chief minister would be able to accommodate both the Brahmin and Vysya communities by offering the speaker and the deputy speaker posts as they were not accommodated in the cabinet.