Despite the recent acrimonious verbal duel between the Congress and BRS, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his bete noire and the leader of the opposition K Chandrasekhar Rao readily shook hands in a rare display of bonhomie on the first day of the winter session in the Telangana Assembly. After the Zero Hour proceedings on day one, the Assembly was adjourned till 2 January.
Today, before the start of the proceedings, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy entered the floor of the House and walked up to KCR, who was already seated. Reddy met him, shook hands with him, and enquired about his well-being. After the brief exchange, the Chief Minister went to his seat. Several ministers and MLAs also greeted Rao. However, soon after the National Anthem was sung, the former chief minister left the House. He signed the Assembly register and then left the premises altogether for his residence at Nandinagar in Hyderabad.
BRS spokesperson Krishank indicated that Rao left for the day since there were no other items on the agenda for the Opposition. However, the presence of the former chief minister in the Assembly seemed to have cheered up the BRS rank and file after consecutive electoral defeats. Both opposition parties, the BJP and the BRS, demanded a longer Assembly session to cover all the contemporary issues and problems.
With the Opposition ready to grill the treasury benches on various issues, including Telangana’s water rights, this display of bonhomie is unlikely to be revisited. The Opposition has accused the Chief Minister of using foul language and wishing death on the BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, more popularly known as KCR. However, Reddy has maintained that Rao himself has used similar foul language. The latest round of the acrimonious verbal duel was triggered by KCR’s threat to skin the Congress government for surrendering the state’s water rights to AP.