Buggana suspects conspiracy in sending capital bills to select committee by Council

Amaravati: Suspecting conspiracy, the Minister for Legislative Affairs Buggana Rajendranath Reddy criticised that, the two bills were sent to select committee by the Council Chairman as per the directions of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu.

Rajendranath Reddy reacted on the procedural lapses happened in the Council, during a discussion in the Assembly on Thursday. The bills including AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) (Repeal) Bill, were referred to select committee by Council Chairman on Wednesday.

He said that the Council Chairman has not been given discretionary powers of Rule 154 to refer the bills to a select committee. Moreover, a proper procedure was not followed to refer the bills to the select committee.

He said that according to rules, government business should be prioritized. But the opposition party leaders have raised Rule 71 which is a special provision to discuss government policy and for the Legislative Council to give its opinion on it. This rule was not in any state's constitutional procedures but under some special circumstances a few years ago, Rule 71 was included in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council.

The minister said despite prioritizing the government business the opposition party was adamant on Rule 71 and it has been permitted to take up Rule 71. During the discussion, the two government bills have been taken into consideration, but all of a sudden the opposition has mentioned that they have sent a letter to the chairman to refer the bills to the selection committee.

He said that the leader of opposition N Chandrababu Naidu was present in the Council gallery during the discussion and was sitting quite opposite the Council Chairman while he was reading out the note and quite before mentioning the selection committee, the chairman had seen Naidu and referred the two bills to the selection committee. It was very clear that the chairman was influenced by Naidu, he added. If this is the case what is the point in having the people's elected body, the Legislative Assembly, he asked.

The minister said that the issue should be elaborately discussed. About Rs 60 crore is being spent on the council just to take suggestions but not to block the government's work. If it was to block the government's work there is no meaning for the Assembly sessions. He termed the TDP actions as atrocious and unjustifiable. A decision should be taken after comprehensive consideration and ensure that there shall be no such situation to block the government in future, he added.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu said that the opposition leaders' behaviour was not appropriate. 'Leader of the opposition in the Council Yanamala Ramakrishnudu had said that all ministers had come drunk to the assembly and another person, during a discussion in media channel said that breath analyser should be used on legislative members while entering the assembly,' he said and added that attempts of slander against the ministers or legislative members in the media channels was condemnable.

Deputy Chief Minister Amjad Basha said that referring the two bills to the selection committee was never raised during the discussion in the Legislative Council.

He said the BJP and PDF MLCs had also said that they would abide by the rules. But Naidu had influenced the Council Chairman which was not appropriate. The opposition party had intentionally consumed the time to ensure that these two bills are stalled. The TDP was confined to only three villages and neglecting the other regions in the state, he added.