5-day AP Assembly session from July 19

Vijayawada: The monsoon session of the AP Assembly will begin on July 19. The five-day session will be preceded by voting in the Presidential elections to be held on July 18 which will be attended by all the political parties with representatives.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu will be stepping into the Assembly premises after a gap of about eight months. Naidu, who had been humiliated by the Treasury Benches, had vowed not to step into the Assembly as long as the YSRCP was in power under the leadership of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. He had, in fact, broken down at the press conference too, a rare spectacle, recalling the humiliation after the ruling party members allegedly dragged the names of his family members in the diatribe.

However, Naidu is said to be firm on his word and not likely to attend the Assembly session but only arrive to vote for his choice of the Presidential candidate. It is said that in all likelihood, the TDP members would prefer to vote for Droupadi Murmu, the BJP pick, as she is a tribal woman and has a clean track record.

The session is also set to elect Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy, senior YSRC leader from Vizianagaram, as new Deputy Speaker in place of the outgoing candidate Kona Raghupati.

The session is likely to witness some acerbic exchanges as usual between the Treasury Benches and the TDP over the decision of the government to release funds to village volunteers to 'equip them with the latest government information' through buying Sakshi newspaper. The TDP has already launched an attack on the misuse of government funds to help the business venture of the Chief Minister's family. The government advertisements issued to the newspaper could also be questioned.

Law and order issue, cases filed against the TDP leaders and the crimes against Dalits and weaker sections could also figure in the debates.