Appointment of PAC chairman against legislative norms: BRS

Former Legislative Affairs Minister and senior BRS MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy said the Congress government was using underhand tactics to undermine the Opposition’s role in scrutinising the State finances.

Hyderabad: The appointment of defected BRS MLA Arekapudi Gandhi as the chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is drawing flak from various quarters, even as the BRS raised objections, terming it as violation of the legislative rules and established parliamentary practices. As the main opposition party, the BRS demanded that the Congress to explain basis for appointment of Gandhi as PAC chairman when the BRS did not nominate him.

Former Legislative Affairs Minister and senior BRS MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy condemned the appointment of Gandhi as the PAC chairman, calling it a violation of parliamentary norms. He said the Congress government was using underhand tactics to undermine the Opposition’s role in scrutinising the State finances.

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The Assembly bulletin released on Monday announced the formation of three financial committees, with the PAC being the most significant. Traditionally, the PAC, which monitors the expenditure of the State government, is chaired by a member of the opposition.

Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan here on Tuesday, Prashanth Reddy argued that the appointment was made without consulting the BRS and against parliamentary practices. “The PAC should consist of 13 members including nine from the Assembly. The Speaker is responsible for announcing the election schedule of the financial committees during the Assembly sessions. However, this process was rushed, with the election schedule announced on the last day of the previous session, and only two hours given for withdrawing nominations,” he explained.

He pointed out that after the completion of the PAC election, the Speaker should have announced the names of the committee members in the Assembly itself, but it was delayed by 38 days. He questioned the inclusion of Gandhi’s name on the list, despite three BRS members, including himself, T Harish Rao, and Gangula Kamalakar, submitting their nominations.

“If there were more nominations than available PAC seats, a voting should have been held. Instead, Harish Rao’s nomination was removed without any voting, and Gandhi was allowed to file a nomination on behalf of BRS, which is inexplicable. Who allowed Gandhi to file nomination, when the BRS did not nominate him. “How can they appoint him as PAC chairman without even consulting the party chief and Leader of Opposition K Chandrashekhar Rao,” he asked.