Congress has nothing to respond on Speaker decision: Revanth Reddy

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the Congress had nothing to respond after the Speaker dismissed BRS disqualification petitions, defended the government on food safety and the Messi event, and said future elections would be held after consultations.

Hyderabad: A day after Speaker G Prasad Kumar dismissed the disqualification petitions filed by the BRS against turncoat MLAs, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the Congress had nothing to respond on the issue.

“After every Assembly session, the Speaker has been releasing bulletins clearly mentioning the BRS strength in the House. If the BRS did not like the Speaker’s decision, there are courts,” the Chief Minister said at a press conference here on Thursday.

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On Congress MP Rahul Gandhi campaigning on safeguarding the Constitution while the Congress in Telangana was allegedly violating constitutional values, the Chief Minister said the question should be raised with the Congress MP.

“Despite the MLAs claiming to be BRS members, I fail to understand why the BRS is disowning them. The MLAs are all majors, have wisdom and have been asserting that they are BRS MLAs. Our opinion does not matter,” Revanth Reddy said.

On Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender’s defection and contesting the Parliament elections on a Congress ticket, the Chief Minister asked reporters to check with Nagender himself.

Making light of the recurring food poisoning cases in government-run schools and hostels, the Chief Minister said it was “all illusion”. Without checking the number of schools over the last 10 years and the incidents that occurred, the media should not question without responsibility, he said.

“There is no such situation. If any incident occurs, immediate measures are being taken up,” Revanth Reddy maintained.

Continuing to defend the football event involving Lionel Messi, the Chief Minister said it was a private event and claimed that not a single rupee was spent by the government.

“The organisers invited me to participate as chief guest. What’s wrong in it? We will continue to participate in future. Unlike others who are promoting drug culture, we are promoting sports,” Revanth Reddy asserted.

When reminded that Singareni had sponsored Rs.10 crore for the event, he said it was done under corporate social responsibility. “We have nothing to do with it,” the Chief Minister said.

Claiming that the Congress had won 66 percent of the sarpanch posts in the gram panchayat elections, the Chief Minister, however, said the decision to conduct MPTC, ZPTC and municipal elections would be taken after seeking the suggestions of all political parties.

“Assembly session will be conducted shortly. We will seek opposition parties’ opinion on how to secure and implement 42 percent reservations for BCs in the elections. Based on the discussion outcome, a decision will be taken,” he added.