Hyderabad : In a significant escalation of the row over alleged remarks against assembly speaker G Prasad Kumar, legislative council chairperson Gutha Sukhender Reddy on Tuesday suspended BRS MLCs Tata Madhusudhan and N Naveen Kumar Reddy for the remainder of the ongoing monsoon session.
The action came after legislative affairs minister D Sridhar Babu moved a resolution in the council seeking action against the two members under Rule 308(2)(2) of the Telangana Legislative Council Rules. Acting on the assembly’s recommendation, the council chairperson announced the suspension of the two members. Soon after the decision was announced and the House adjourned, BRS members staged a dharna outside the chairperson‘s chamber, raising slogans against the Congress govt.
The rule empowers the chairperson to name a member who disregards the authority of the chair or wilfully obstructs the business of the House, following which a motion can be adopted to suspend the member for a specified period, including the remainder of a session. The resolution, moved by health minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, received support from ministers and legislators across the treasury benches. Marshals later escorted the protesting MLCs from the premises.
Earlier in the evening, the assembly adopted a resolution condemning the alleged remarks made by the two MLCs against the speaker and recommending action against them.
“This House resolves that the Leader of the Opposition, K Chandrasekhar Rao, should take responsibility for the inappropriate conduct of the members of his party and tender an unconditional apology to the speaker in order to uphold the dignity and decorum of this House,” it said. Participating in the discussion, deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka described the alleged remarks against the speaker as evidence of the BRS’s “arrogant and feudal mindset“. He alleged that there was a “farmhouse conspiracy” behind attempts to undermine the legislature. The person occupying the office of the speaker is a symbol of the dignity, freedom, and democratic functioning of the House,” he said. Bhatti further claimed that a BRS legislature party meeting held at a farmhouse a day before the assembly session was part of a larger plan to target democratic institutions, alleging that some members acted according to a pre-planned strategy directed by the party leadership.
Defending his party, BRS floor leader in the council S Madhusudhana Chary accused the govt of acting unilaterally. He argued that the Congress did not have a majority in the council and alleged that the suspension was aimed at silencing the opposition. “Monday’s incident was an indelible blot on democracy. It was not merely an insult to an individual, but a grave insult to the entire legislature.