Telangana: BJP MLAs refuse to take oath from AIMIM leader as Pro-tem Speaker
BJP says Akbaruddin Owaisi appointed as Pro-tem Speaker by violating rules; MLA T Raja Singh says he wouldn’t take oath from one who made “anti-Hindu” remarks
The BJP on Saturday (December 9) boycotted the oath-taking ceremony for the newly-elected Telangana MLAs, alleging that Assembly rules had been violated by the appointment of AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi as the Pro-tem Speaker.
Before the commencement of the session, Owaisi was administered the oath as the Pro-tem Speaker by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at Raj Bhavan. The Pro-tem Speaker has the task of administering oath to new legislators.
The seniority issue
Owaisi, who is the younger brother of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, has been elected from the Chandrayangutta constituency for the sixth time (including the united Andhra Pradesh Assembly before the birth of Telangana).
Protocol says the seniormost MLA in the Assembly is made the Pro-tem Speaker. However, state BJP president G Kishan Reddy alleged that Owaisi was appointed as the Pro-tem Speaker even though there were other senior members in the Assembly.
“There is a tradition of a senior person being appointed as the Pro-tem Speaker in the Assembly. The BJP opposes the appointment of AIMIM’s Akbaruddin Owaisi as Pro-tem Speaker as per an understanding (of Congress) with AIMIM,” Reddy told reporters.
Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy with the party's newly elected MLAs of the state Assembly and others at the party office, in Hyderabad, on December 9 | PTI
Congress “plan”
Observing that Congress has only a wafer-thin majority in the Assembly, he claimed that the government is faced with a situation of collapsing even for a small pretext. In view of this, the AIMIM member is made the Pro-tem Speaker as per a plan, he alleged.
“Because of the violation of the legislative assembly’s rules, we are opposing the appointment of the AIMIM person as the Pro-tem Speaker. Therefore, our members are boycotting oath-taking with him in the chair,” he said.
According to Reddy, the Congress has started its “appeasement politics” and violating the traditions of the legislative assembly just three days after assuming power. He pointed out that the BJP has already claimed that there is a tacit understanding between the Congress and the AIMIM.
“During the recent election campaign, the Congress alleged that the BJP and the AIMIM were one. Now, the people of Telangana should know on what criteria Owaisi has been made the Pro-tem Speaker in violation of the rules,” Reddy said.
“The true colours of Congress have come out again,” he added.
The “anti-Hindu” allegation
However, BJP MLA T Raja Singh, who won the Goshamahal seat, told news agency ANI in an interview on Friday that he would never take oath from a person who made anti-Hindu remarks in the past. “We (BJP MLAs) will take oath from the Speaker in his/her chamber once s/he is appointed,” he told ANI.
Singh had refused to take oath in 2018 as well since the Pro-tem Speaker on that occasion was also from the AIMIM.
Singh alleged that Congress leader Revanth Reddy, the new Chief Minister of Telangana, is scared of the AIMIM just like his predecessor, BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao, which is why Owaisi has been appointed as the Pro-tem Speaker.
The first session of the Third Telangana Assembly began in Hyderabad on Saturday. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was the first to take oath, followed by deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
(With agency inputs)