Harish Rao says Congress is weakening Assembly, demands 15-day session
Former Minister and senior BRS MLA T. Harish Rao has accused the Congress government of deliberately weakening the Telangana Assembly and silencing opposition voices. Ahead of the winter session, he demanded a minimum 15-day sitting to debate public issues.
Hyderabad: Ahead of the winter session of the State Legislature commencing on Monday, former Minister and senior BRS MLA T Harish Rao slammed the Congress government for deliberately weakening the Telangana Assembly and suppressing opposition voices. He demanded that the session be held for at least 15 days to discuss people’s issues in detail.
Speaking during an informal media interaction at the BRS Legislative Party office, Harish Rao said the Congress government was afraid to hold the Assembly. The House was being run with brute numerical strength of the treasury benches rather than a democratic spirit, he said, pointing out that while the previous BRS government ran the Assembly for an average of 32 days a year during its first term, the Congress government had reduced sittings drastically.
“In two years, they ran the House for only 40 days. A government that promised 45 days a year has now settled for barely 20,” he said.
The former Minister stated that the Assembly sessions were being convened only to target the opposition, not to debate people’s issues. Even the last session was limited to a single day, he said, questioning the purpose of such sittings if the main opposition was not allowed to raise issues.
He accused the Speaker of denying BRS members adequate time and alleged that microphones of the opposition legislators were being switched off during debates. The House committees had not been constituted, while key posts like the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairmanship were decided through the backdoor, without informing the opposition.
Raising concerns over irrigation, Harish Rao said allocations for the Palamuru-Rangareddy project had been cut from 90 TMC to 45 TMC and demanded clarity from Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy. He questioned which districts, Nalgonda, Rangareddy or Palamuru, would be left dry under the reduced allocation and why the project’s detailed project report (DPR), which was returned a year ago, had not been resubmitted.
Listing other pending issues, the BRS leader demanded Assembly debates on fertiliser shortages, failure to implement Rythu Bandhu, loan waivers, crop bonuses, the alleged Rs 5 lakh crore HILT policy scam, job notifications, DA arrears, and unpaid dues to retired employees. He also sought discussion on recent incidents including food poisoning and suicides involving Gurukul students and also called out the Chief Minister’s undignified conduct in the House.
He said his party was fully prepared to debate any issue and would counter the Congress allegations on Krishna River water sharing with documentary evidence.
“This is not a people’s government. It is a government that silences dissent,” he said, insisting on equal opportunities for the opposition, including presentations in the House.
