BRS MLC Banda Prakash was elected unopposed Deputy Chairman of the Telangana Legislative Council on Sunday.
His election, a formality since he was the only candidate to have filed papers for the post, was announced by Council Chairman Gutha Sukender Reddy on Sunday afternoon after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao arrived to attend the session. Mr. Sukender Rao and Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao congratulated Mr. Prakash on his election and made him occupy the Chair’s seat along with a few Ministers and members from BRS, Congress and AIMIM.
Later, the Deputy Chairman thanked the Chief Minister for picking him up for the post. Newly-appointed Chief Whip T. Bhanu Prasad Rao and Whips Shambipur (Sunkari) Raju and Padi Kowshik Reddy thanked the CM for their elevation in the Council.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the services of Mr. Prakash were needed for Telangana society and the Council as he had the experience of participating in the Statehood movement from his student days. His experience in public life and his academic background would help the Council. The Chief Minister also wished Mr. Prakash to lead and facilitate meaningful debates in the Council.
Later, several Ministers and Council members congratulated Mr. Prakash on getting elected as the Deputy Chairman.
Born on February 18, 1954, into a lower-middle class family in Subhash Nagar Railway Gate area of Warangal, Mr. Prakash participated in the Telangana movement in 1969-70 in his high school days and joined the Left movement in 1972 and worked for Radical Student Union, a frontal organisation of the then People’s War Group.
He was active in Congress since 1981 and worked as the party’s manifesto committee members for 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections. He was elected as Councillor of Warangal civic body in 1981 defeating the town president of the Congress, before joining it. He quit Congress in December 2016 and joined TRS (BRS). He was awarded Ph.D by Kakatiya University in 1995 for his thesis on “World Bank and Rural Development”.
Mr. Prakash was elected to Rajya Sabha from Telangana in 2018 and was a member of the Upper House of Parliament from April 4, 2018, to December 4, 2021. On November 22, 2021, he was elected to the Legislative Council.
