(Left) BJP Leader T Raja (Right) Akbaruddin Owaisi
Newly elected BJP MLAs of Telangana refrained from the oath of office after the Congress nominated Akbaruddin Owaisi of AIMIM as the pro-tem speaker. The state BJP expressed strong disapproval in a letter to Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, calling this an open violation of protocols, precedents, and procedures. As per the constitution, Article 188, a senior most member in terms of number of years in the Assembly be nominated as the Pro-tem Speaker.
“Although there are many members who are senior to Akbaruddin Owaisi, the Government chose to appoint him as the Pro-tem Speaker, which is a clear violation of the set norms,” said a letter signed by Telangana elected BJP MLAs.
However, on December 9, 2023, the newly elected Congress government proceeded with the oath-taking ceremony, with MIM’s Akbaruddin Owaisi sitting as Pro-tem Speaker.
The BJP MLAs decided to swear in before the Assembly’s permanent speaker.
The TS-BJP requested the Governor to set aside the nomination of Sri Akbaruddin Owaisi as Pro-tem Speaker as it constitutes a violation of norms and instructs the appointment of the senior most member, irrespective of his/her affiliation to any political party, as Pro-tem Speaker.
The TS-BJP also requested the Governor to instruct the officials concerned to withhold the process of election of a new full-time Speaker for the newly constituted assembly pending the nomination of a senior member as Speaker.
The letter was signed by all 8 elected BJP MLAs: B Payal Shanker ( Adilabad), K. Venkata Ramana Reddy (Kamareddy), Dhanpal Suryanarayana Gupta (Nizamabad Urban), Palvai Harish Babu (Sirpur), Rama Rao Patel (Mudhole), Paidi Rakesh Reddy (Armoor), Aleti Maheshwar Reddy (Nirmal)
There are 51 newly elected MLAs in this assembly out of 119, with 10 MLAs absent. Ex-CM KCR was not able to attend the oath-taking ceremony because he was receiving medical attention after hip surgery.
In a video address, Raja Singh, the newly elected BJP MLA, declared that BJP MLAs would not swear allegiance to Akbaruddin Owaisi, the heir apparent to Razaakaar Kasim Rizvi.
Rajasingh continued, saying that the AIMIM leader was also named a pro-tem speaker by TRS in 2018. Congress has followed suit now. Akbaruddin recently made threats against the election officer. He gained notoriety for his hate speech in which he demanded that the police give them fifteen minutes to demonstrate their strength.
Congress appears to be afraid of AIMIM and its cadre, as evidenced by the appointment of Owaisi as protem speaker. BRS and TRS are engaging in appeasement politics; despite MIM’s numerous charges against Congress and Chief Minister Revant Reddy, they continue to reach out.
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