HYDERABAD: Amid pandemonium in the Assembly and suspension of 24 BRS MLAs from the House for two days on Sunday for their vociferous demand for the resignation of Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy over alleged illegal mining by a company linked to his kin, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed his government’s readiness to hand over the probe to the CBI if the opposition had doubts about the impartiality of the CID investigation.
He added that the government would initiate action even against his own family members or those of Srinivasa Reddy if they were found involved in illegal mining, and rejected the BRS demand for the minister’s resignation.
Stating that the government had adopted new policies to increase revenues, Revanth said the Mining department had already collected pending tax from Raghava Constructions in 2025.
Referring to the BRS members’ demand for the constitution of a House committee to probe alleged illegal mining by Raghava Constructions, the chief minister said that the previous BRS government had constituted three such panels and used them to blackmail some individuals and threaten to seize their assets.
He further alleged that the BRS encouraged defections to derive political mileage by using these House committees. He said the opposition was demanding a House committee with the intention of blackmailing, and such political tactics would not be allowed.
The chief minister further elaborated that such a committee would have no powers to initiate action and would only recommend either a CID or CBI probe. To avoid this, the government directly ordered a CID probe, he asserted.
Revanth appealed to the BRS MLAs to furnish evidence to the CID for further investigation. He also urged members of other parties to provide information regarding the exploitation of Telangana’s mineral wealth.
“The government has taken responsibility for conducting a thorough inquiry and punishing the culprits,” he added.
Earlier, as soon as the session began, BRS members rushed into the well of the House and started shouting slogans against minister Srinivasa Reddy. They also tore papers and threw them in the House, stalling proceedings until the lunch break.
Although the chief minister, other ministers, and several Congress MLAs intervened and repeatedly stated that the government had already ordered a CID probe into the alleged illegal mining activities of various firms, including Raghava Constructions, the BRS MLAs continued their protest and sat in the podium.
The Speaker also repeatedly requested the opposition members not to disrupt the proceedings.
However, they continued to demand the constitution of a House committee to probe Raghava Constructions and the resignation of Srinivasa Reddy.
Suspended for two days
Following a motion moved by Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu, Speaker G Prasad Kumar announced the suspension of BRS members T Harish Rao, KT Rama Rao, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Anil Jadhav, G Jagadish Reddy, Gangula Kamalakar, Padi Kaushik Reddy, Madhavaram Krishna Rao, B Laxma Reddy, Kova Laxmi, Gudem Mahipal Reddy, K Manik Rao, T Padma Rao, Chinta Prabhakar, K Prabhakar Reddy, V Prashant Reddy, Marri Rajasekhar Reddy, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, P Sabita Indra Reddy, Kalvakuntla Sanjay, V Sunitha Laxma Reddy, Kaleru Venkatesh, Vijayudu, and KP Vivekananda for two days.
Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu said, “We have already clarified the concerns raised by the BRS members. We have also announced on the floor of the House that a CB-CID inquiry would be conducted. If the BRS members, who governed the state for 10 years, themselves have no faith in the CB-CID, what more can we say?”
He said that on behalf of the government, repeated appeals were made not to obstruct proceedings, but it appeared that the real agenda of the BRS members was to stall the Assembly. He added that their intent seemed to be to ensure that no business was conducted in the House, particularly to prevent the passage of the Appropriation Bill, thereby deliberately creating disruptions.
CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao advised the Speaker and the government to suspend the protesting BRS MLAs in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the House.