BRS slams Speaker’s partisan attitude

BRS accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of using foul language in the Assembly and the Speaker of bias, alleging Opposition voices were suppressed, prompting BRS MLAs to boycott the session

HYDERABAD: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has come down heavily on what it termed as “foul language” used by the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in the Assembly and the partisan attitude of the Chair in failing to protect the rights of the Opposition members.

Criticising the Chief Minister’s language, former Minister V Prashanth Reddy said during the question hour BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao had posed a few specific questions. Save for criticizing the BRS MLAs, the Chief Minister had not replied to the questions. Instead, he indulged in body shaming the former Minister and making derogatory comments in the House, he recalled at a press conference here on Saturday.

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As the Chief Minister spoke over one and half hours during the question hour, the Speaker interestingly did not intervene and restrict him. When the BRS Members appealed for an opportunity to speak and respond to the Chief Minister’s comments, they were denied the opportunity, the former Minister said.

“The Speaker openly refused to offer mike stating that the Chief Minister should not be criticized. Is it fair in a democracy? Protesting this partisan attitude, the BRS MLAs boycotted the Assembly session,” Prashanth Reddy stressed.

Former Minister Gangula Kamalakar pointed out that Telangana legislators were not humiliated in the House even during the separate Telangana agitation.

Stressing that every Member in the House had equal rights, the Speaker Nadendla Manohar used to offer mike to Telangana legislators. But, Speaker G Prasad Kumar was running the House in a unilateral manner and partisan attitude, he said.

“In the past, protesting against poor power supply to agriculture sector, we had carried damaged pump sets and dried up paddy crops in the Assembly. Like Chief Minister, we too have equal rights and Speaker should come to the rescue to all Members,” Kamalakar said, adding that if Opposition MLAs voice was being scuttled that was the purpose of attending the session.