HYDERABAD: The three BJP MLAs who had approached the High Court against their suspension from the budget session of the Assembly last week had to face rejection once again on Tuesday, with Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy refusing to admit them even on the final day of the session.
The High Court had asked T Raja Singh, M Raghunandan Rao and Eatala Rajender to meet Assembly Secretary Narasimha Charyulu, who in turn was asked to submit the direction to the Speaker with a suggestion that he provide an audience to the suspended MLAs. On careful examination of the direction given by the High Court, the Speaker refused to admit them.
Calling it a ‘dark day’ for democracy, the MLAs announced that a dharna would be held at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park from 11 am to 5 pm on March 17 with the slogan “Save Democracy from Autocracy,”. They also said that they would approach the Supreme Court against the Speaker’s decision, once they received the full copy of the judgement.
“The court’s direction may not be binding on the Speaker as on today, but it is undemocratic. We don’t want to attribute politics to the chair, but it is very unfortunate that the chair didn’t respect the spirit of the Constitution by rejecting our representation,” Raghunandan Rao told the media at party office in Nampally.
Recalling that even during 2008 and 2014, when he was TRS Floor Leader in the Assembly, the then government had not tried to suppress the voice of the opposition MLAs, Rajender felt that the Speaker’s move has started a draconian tradition that would lead to autocracy.
“A person who tried his best to obstruct Telangana movement has moved the suspension motion against a person like me, who has been in the movement for 20 years as an activist. The Chief Minister wants to rule like an autocrat, but whenever events like take place, people will ultimately judge. People of Telangana are ashamed to have such a person as the Chief Minister,” he said. Raja Singh claimed that the Speaker was visibly scared while refusing to admit them, as he was pressurised by the Chief Minister to do so.
“I have asked the Speaker why Rajender and Raghunandan were suspended, when I was the one who had gone close to the podium. He had no answer. Rajender would have exposed the sins of the Chief Minister if he was present in the Assembly, which is why he was suspended. You may stifle our voices in the Assembly, but you won’t be able to do it outside,” Raja Singh declared.