Absentees mostly from Congress

HYDERABAD: Of the total 293 members of the House, the majority of the absentees in the elections to the post of Speaker and deputy speaker were from the Congress party.In all, 259 members in the House took part in voting.About 18 Congress MLAs, which include some ministers, did not attend the election. Some were on foreign trips while some others cited health reasons for their absence. Eleven TRS members abstained from voting. YSR Congress MLA YS Vijayamma also did not vote while MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi did not attend.N Manohar was elected as Assembly Speaker with 158 votes and Bhatti Vikramarka as deputy speaker with 164 votes defeating TDP nominees KE Krishnamurthy (90 votes) and Suddala Devaiah (88 votes).