VIJAYAWADA: The stage is all set for the commencement of the Monsoon Session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature from Thursday.
According to sources, as the opposition YSRCP is expected to boycott the Assembly session, it is going to be a smooth affair. However, the YSRCP, which has a majority in the AP Legislative Council, will attend the Council to confront the NDA government on various people’s issues.
While the Assembly Session will commence at 9 am, the Council will start at 10 am. Business in both the Houses will begin with the Question Hour. Later, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting will be held to fix the number of days, and the agenda. The session is likely to be held for one week.
A high-level meeting was chaired by Assembly Speaker Ch Ayyanna Patrudu and Council Chairman Koyye Moshenu Raju on Wednesday on the conduct of the session. Along with the Chief Secretary, the DGP and several higher officials attended the meeting, and discussed the conduct of the session, and also security arrangements to be made at the Assembly.
The Speaker directed officials to provide answers to the questions of MLAs in time.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Speaker, while saying that the Assembly session will provide a better opportunity for the MLAs to raise and resolve the issues related to their respective constituencies, appealed to all the members to attend the session.
“It is not correct on the part of the YSRCP MLAs to abstain from the Assembly session,” Ayyanna Patrudu observed.
Besides tabling bills related to the ordinances of Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration departments, the State Cabinet is scheduled to meet after the end of the first day of the session. It is expected to give nod for some more bills to pass during the Monsoon Session.
Demanding the status of the Opposition, the YSRCP has stopped attending the Assembly sessions for quite some time. The absence of the YSRCP drew criticism from the treasury benches. The remarks of the Assembly Speaker that what is wrong in cutting the wages of the MLAs for abstaining from the Assembly has also become a point of debate.
The logic of the Speaker is that when the government employees are facing salary cuts for abstaining from duties, what is wrong with cutting the emoluments of legislators for not attending the session.