Telangana Assembly: Heated exchange of words between KTR, Akbaruddin

Owaisi said the State government was not taking up development works in the Old City and alleged that he was not able to meet the Chief Minister

Hyderabad: A heated exchange of words took place between Industries Minister KT Rama Rao and Leader of the Opposition Akbaruddin Owaisi on Saturday over Old City development works in the House.

During his speech on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s address, Owaisi said the State government was not taking up development works in the Old City and alleged that he was not able to meet the Chief Minister, Ministers or officials to discuss pending projects and welfare programmes. The IT Minister, who was patiently listening to the AIMIM leader’s speech, took strong objection to Owaisi’s remark and said it was not right on part of him to say that the government was not functioning and that Ministers were not responding.

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Rama Rao said it was not appropriate for Owaisi to speak on issues without attending the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). Owaisi retored that even the Leader of the House, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, was not present at the meeting. “I sent a letter to the Speaker citing the reason for not attending the meeting,” he said.

Rama Rao said that if the Leader of the House was not present, there were Ministers who could have addressed the issues raised by him. “You don’t attend the BAC meeting and raise issues in the House. If you had attended the meeting, the Speaker would have addressed all your concerns,” he said.

“By raising voices, one cannot achieve anything. If you think speaking in an aggressive manner will give you mileage, that is not going to happen. You can say things in a more polite manner. Today’s discussion is on the Governor’s address. Stick to it. You have been given ample opportunity to speak on the topic,” he said, asking the AIMIM leader not to deviate from the Governor’s address as it was tantamount to wasting the House’s time.

“If parties with seven members in the House take so much time, what will happen to other members? Even the government has to reply to the Motion of Thanks,” he said, asking Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy to direct the AIMIM member not to deviate from the topic.

Earlier, Legislative Affairs Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy too took objection to Owaisi asking the government whether the Governor’s address was cleared by the State Cabinet or not.