HYDERABAD: A heated exchange broke out in the Assembly after BRS working president and MLA KT Rama Rao took potshots at Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar over his ruling dismissing disqualification petitions against MLAs accused of defecting from the BRS to the Congress.
Referring to Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, Rama Rao said the legislator had been elected on a BRS ticket, later joined the Congress and contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat. “Danam Nagender won on a BRS ticket and later joined the Congress, yet you allowed him to sit on the treasury benches after ruling that he had not defected,” he said during the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address.
Responding, the Speaker said Rama Rao had criticised the ruling without reading the judgment. “Without reading the judgment, you accused me. I did not respond in the media. First read the judgment and then come to me. It is better to reduce such questioning,” he said.
Rama Rao replied that legislators had the right to question the Speaker’s decisions. “As a member, I have every right to question whether the decision taken by the Speaker is right or wrong. In a democracy, questioning is our responsibility. We can also question High Court judgments,” he said.
Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy intervened to accuse Rama Rao of speaking arrogantly while questioning the Speaker. “If the BRS allegations were true, people would have voted for the party. They (the BRS) themselves are brand ambassadors of dictatorship,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Rama Rao alleged that the Congress government had failed to fulfil its electoral promises, particularly the “six guarantees”, which it had said would be implemented within 100 days.
He recalled that during the first Governor’s address after the Congress assumed office, then governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had stated that the guarantees would be given legal status and that the chief minister had signed a file to that effect.
“Where is the file signed by the chief minister granting legal status to the six guarantees? If such an important document has disappeared, a Special Investigation Team must trace it,” he demanded.
Rama Rao said the credibility of the Governor’s address came into question as the assurances in the first address remained unfulfilled. “If a file signed by the chief minister has no value, how can people trust this government?” he asked.
He also questioned the Congress claim that each family would benefit to the tune of Rs 2.5 lakh under the guarantees. “Even after more than two years, can the government show a single family that has received benefits of that scale?” he asked.
Rama Rao further alleged that the government was spending Telangana’s resources on political campaigns in other states while failing to secure funds from the Union government. He also claimed that industrial growth and IT employment were declining and dismissed investment summit announcements as exaggerated claims.
Raising issues in agriculture, education and law and order, he alleged that farmers were being neglected, fee reimbursements delayed and campus safety ignored. He also raised concerns over land policies and alleged large-scale land monetisation by the government.