Modi Considering Purandeswari For Speaker?

Andhra Pradesh BJP president and veteran MP Daggubati Purandeswari is poised for a major responsibility in the 2024 Lok Sabha. Despite not being included in Modi’s recent cabinet, many believe she could be a strong candidate for this key position.

Purandeswari has served as a Member of Parliament three times and has been instrumental in forging alliances for the BJP in Andhra Pradesh. If she were to become the Speaker, she would be only the second person from Andhra Pradesh to hold this prestigious position.

The 65-year-old MP, Daggubati Purandeswari, has a notable family background. She is the daughter of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NT Rama Rao, making her the sister-in-law of the newly-elected Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, and the sister of his wife, Bhuvaneshwari.

Sources suggest that promoting Purandeswari to the position of Lok Sabha Speaker would likely be welcomed by Telugu Desam Party president and the soon-to-be Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Purandeswari, a prominent figure in Andhra Pradesh politics, initially joined the Congress in 2000. However, she parted ways with the party in March 2014, expressing dissent over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, and subsequently aligned herself with the BJP.

Purandeswari served as the MP for Bapatla and Visakhapatnam in 2004 and 2009, before being elected as MP from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh elections in 2024. She was appointed as Andhra Pradesh BJP president when the party was trying to establish themselves in Andhra Pradesh.

The BJP received success in Andhra Pradesh under her leadership and won eight MLAs and three MPs in Andhra Pradesh elections in 2024. Purandeswari also served the Minister of State in Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in the year 2009 and MoS in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in 2012.

Her husband, Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao, has also been a significant figure in Andhra Pradesh politics, having served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly and as a minister.