CM's stick to rein in unruly MLAs, warns of cancelling membership

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy warned of cancellation of the membership of MLAs from the Assembly if they create nuisance in the Houses during the assembly session. The CM also took a strong dig at the leader of the opposition K Chandrashekhar Rao for not attending the budget session of the State Assembly.

The Chief Minister said that the previous BRS government had expelled Congress leaders Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Sampath Kumar from the House and he was also suspended for a whole session.

In a chit chat with the media, the Chief Minister said that his government did not want expulsions, suspensions and the entry of marshals in the House. He hinted the membership of the MLAs can be cancelled depending on the situation. “The Congress government has been running the assembly democratically. Opposition members are being given more time to speak in the House. Such long debates in the assembly have never been held even in the erstwhile united AP. The sessions are being held for 17 hours every day,” he said.

Revanth Reddy disclosed his close association with BRS MLAs Sabitha Indra Reddy and Sunitha Laxma Reddy when the three of them were in the Congress party. Two cases were booked against him when he campaigned in support of Sunitha in 2018 elections and the cases were still pending, he said. Sabitha invited him to join Congress. She joined the ruling BRS party instead of supporting me and started campaigning against me in the elections, he added.

The CM maintained that he did not use any unparliamentary word in his speech and also did not utter a single rude word. He also questioned KCR for staying away from the assembly and asked why only KTR and Harish Rao were present. “KCR should be removed as floor leader because he is not a responsible leader. KCR wanted only power. After losing the CM chair, the BRS leader forgot about people's problems,” he said.

He claimed that the ongoing budget session was not a short session. Everyone has got a chance to speak on the budget, on other bills and the appropriation bill, he added.

The State government presented the budget outlay in accordance with the allocation to the State in the Central government budget. The Centre presented the budget on July 23 and the State presented on July 25. It is mandatory to approve the appropriation bill by July 31. The length of the discussion is more important than the number of days, the CM said.

When asked about Gadwal MLA rejoining BRS, the Chief Minister said that eight to nine BRS MLAs came to him and had a cup of tea recently. “Does it mean they have joined the Congress,” he asked rhetorically.