There’s an interesting sentiment associated with the Speaker’s post in Telugu states. Those who were elected speaker of the Assembly, not only lost their next elections but also faded politically. They could never regain their political charm.

Believe it or not. This is a very strong sentiment in Telugu politics. Senior leaders like Pratibha Bharati and Nadendla Manonar were speakers. They could not win their next election. Ditto with Kiran Kumar Reddy. He was made speaker in 2009. He even went on to become the CM post YSR’s demise. He did not even contest the 2014 elections. Soon after this, he faded into political oblivion. In 2004, Though his name crops up once in a while, there seems to be no political future for him. Even earlier, those who became speakers, lost their next elections.

The first speaker of the newly-carved out Telangana, Madhusudanachary, lost the 2018 elections. He has been languishing in obscurity ever since. In AP, the first speaker after the bifurcation, Kodela Sivaprasad lost the 2019 elections. He died later under unfortunate circumstances. There is also a belief that those who become endowments ministers do not win the elections the next time.

Sources in the know say that this is one of the reasons why Tammineni Sitaram wants to get out of the speaker’s post. Sources say he is desperately trying to get into the government and become a minister. Tammineni was a minister during the 1999-2004 period. Since then, he kept on changing parties but could not win an election. It was only in 2019 that he was again elected. But this time, he was made a speaker.