Opposition BRS has announced a complete boycott of the ongoing Assembly session, accusing Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar of bias and undemocratic and offensive behaviour by the Congress government. BRS leader T Harish Rao questioned how the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, can criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi while they are silenced for questioning the Chief Minister.
Trouble started when Speaker Prasad Kumar declined to allow the BRS members to speak after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy intervened during the Question Hour and spoke about the Musi rejuvenation project. In protest, the BRS MLAs walked out and went to the neighbouring Gun Park to stage protests against the Speaker and the treasury benches.
Senior leader T Harish Rao alleged, “The Assembly is being conducted completely against democratic norms. In protest against the Speaker’s one-sided stance and the undemocratic approach and arrogant attitude of the Congress government, we are boycotting these Assembly sessions.”
He alleged that often their microphones were switched off in the Assembly whenever they tried to question the government and wondered, “If Rahul Gandhi can criticise the Prime Minister in Parliament, why are we being stopped from questioning the Chief Minister?” Rao also questioned how the Speaker could dictate that Opposition MLAs should not criticise the Chief Minister. “Why do we have the Assembly at all if the Opposition is not allowed to speak?”
He also accused the Chief Minister of behaving like a street rowdy and badmouthing BRS chief and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The Chief Minister said that K Chandrasekhar Rao should be hanged for the injustice caused to the state over water rights.” Taking offence at the Chief Minister’s speech, Harish Rao took a dig at Reddy, saying his mouth should be cleansed before cleaning the River Musi.
He also complained that the BRS was deliberately made to wait for an hour and a half before the business advisory committee meeting. Moreover, they had wanted to meet and decide on the length of the session after seven days, but in the minutes that were presented in the Assembly, it was stated that the decision had been left to the Speaker.