Kodela faces heat over role of kin

Guntur: Assembly Speaker Dr Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, who was elected six times to the state Assembly, is facing heat with the interference of his family members in the constituency. It may be recalled that the TDP leaders recently protested in the party office demanding the party high command not to give ticket to him.

The CPI, CPM and civil rights activists jointly protested against the alleged corruption of Kodela Siva Prasada Rao's family members. YSRCP leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy alleged that 'K-tax', with K referring to Kodela, is being collected in the constituency which is a shame.

Talking to The Hans India, Siva Prasada Rao vehemently denied the allegations, saying that the opposition leaders are levelling baseless charges against him for gaining political mileage. He said that in some constituencies, rebels filed nominations but he had no such problem as he had solved problem of dissidence in the party.

Expressing confidence that he would win the election, he predicted that the TDP would get 150 seats to form the government. "N Chandrababu Naidu will become the Chief Minister for another term. In order to develop the state, we need experienced leader like Naidu," he said.

The Speaker said, "I have developed Sattenapalli Assembly constituency spending Rs 1,250 crore, Narasaraopet Assembly constituency with Rs 1,400 crore. I have executed funds using MNREGS funds and brought funds from the Centre and developed both the constituencies. I have constructed record number of toilets in the constituency which was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records and developed crematoriums."

Pinning hopes on the developmental works he had taken up, the veteran leader said he had developed infrastructure during his tenure and added that he would focus on setting up of agro-based industries in the constituency in the next five years to generate employment opportunities.

Stating that he was fortunate enough to be the Speaker of first Assembly of new Andhra Pradesh, Siva Prasada Rao observed that it was difficult for any Speaker to satisfy all the members but he tried to do it.