Speaker expunges alleged unparliamentary remarks, KTR objects

Heated arguments broke out in the Telangana Assembly after the Speaker ordered expunction of alleged remarks by KT Rama Rao. The opposition protested, while the government maintained that disqualification petitions were outside the House’s purview

Hyderabad: Heated arguments ensued in the Assembly on Wednesday after the Speaker ordered the expunction of alleged unparliamentary remarks made by BRS MLA and party working president KT Rama Rao on disqualification petitions against turncoat MLAs during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s Address. The decision drew strong objections from the opposition.

Raising the issue, Government Whip Aadi Srinivas alleged that Rama Rao used unparliamentary language and made baseless allegations against the government, and requested the Chair to examine the records and remove the remarks. Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu said the disqualification petitions were decided as per the Tenth Schedule by the Tribunal headed by the Speaker, and the matter was not under the purview of the House for discussion. He said those aggrieved by the decision could approach higher authorities as provided under law.

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Responding, Rama Rao denied using any unparliamentary words and said the Speaker would have expunged them immediately in such a case. He objected to the action, stating that he had only referred to statements made earlier by Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, both of whom had spoken about automatic disqualification of defecting MLAs as mentioned in the Congress Nyay Patra.

He said the House had discussed several issues, including BC reservations, despite court verdicts, and there was nothing wrong in referring to the Tribunal’s decision. Amid protests from the treasury benches, Rama Rao’s microphone was briefly disconnected. The Speaker later ordered that the alleged unparliamentary remarks be expunged from the records.