Cong, Oppn trade charges, sparring heats up in House

Hyderabad: The Telangana Assembly on Wednesday witnessed heated discussion between the ruling party and opposition members in the Assembly, first on the allegations of taking commissions from the beneficiaries of ‘overseas scholarship scheme’ and later on the allegations of the opposition members that a minister was coming to the House fully drunk.

The heated arguments started when the BRS member alleged that ten per cent commission was taken from the beneficiaries of the students for sanctioning scholarship after the reply by the minister during the question hour in the Assembly on Wednesday. Intervening here, the Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu said that no allegation of defamation should be made against the members using the floor and it should not happen without notice and also urged the member to withdraw the comments.

The Legislative Affairs Minister pointed out about the ‘Khaki’ shirts adorned by the BRS member and said that the opposition members were enacting dramas by sitting in the House. “Just yesterday, they dressed as Ayappa devotees, and today they appear as auto drivers. When in power, they showed no concern for the issues faced by auto drivers, yet now they attempt to mislead. If they couldn't address these issues in ten years, how can they expect the current government to resolve them in just ten months?,” he said, adding overseas scholarships were not stopped anywhere.

The Speaker Gaddam Prasad said that the words of Vivekanand were expunged from the records. He also schooled BRS leader KT Rama Rao asking him whether this was the way he teaches the new members. He also warned P Kaushik Reddy of suspension if he continued to disrupt the proceedings. Government Whip Aadi Srinivas alleged that the BRS members were obsessed with commission hence they brought ‘Commission Kakatiya’, Commission Kaleshwaram, and Dalit Bandhu, and amassed Rs 10,000 crore. There was a huge uproar in the House when R&B Minister K Venkata Reddy alleged that he can prove with evidence that Harish Rao earned Rs 10,000 crore. Responding to this Harish Rao alleged that some leaders were coming to the House highly drunk and there should be tests at the Assembly like the drunken driving test. Government Whip Beerla Ilaiah alleged that Harish Rao might be talking about his uncle, who fell down from the helicopter and referred to the BRS leader as ‘Match box’ Harish Rao. The BRS members came into the well to protest the comments.

The Ministers Sridhar Babu and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy took objection to the comments and urged the Speaker to keep the House in order and also to remove the words from the records. The Speaker announced that the objectionable words will be expunged from the records.