Even as Bharat Rashtra Samithi is raising a hue and cry over the delay in disqualification of the party MLAs who had defected into the Congress, the Revanth Reddy government in Telangana offered a prime post to a defected MLA, which should have actually gone to the BRS as per the traditions.
On Monday, the state assembly secretariat issued orders constituting three legislative committees – public accounts committee (PAC), estimates committee and public undertakings committee. Each committee will have 12 members, apart from the chairperson.
As per the assembly or parliamentary traditions, the PAC chairman post should be given to a senior leader from the opposition, recommended by the leader of the opposition. The committee will have members from both the ruling and the opposition parties.
But the Revanth Reddy government appointed Serilingampalli MLA Arekapudi Gandhi as the chairman of the PAC, thought the BRS has suggested three names for the same, including former finance minister T Harish Rao and senior MLAs Vemula Prashant Reddy and Gangula Kamalakar.
Even as everybody was expecting that the PAC chairman post would go to Harish Rao, the Revanth Reddy government appointed Gandhi, who recently defected from the BRS to the Congress.
Technically, he still continues to be a BRS MLA and hence, the PAC chairman post has been given to an opposition MLA.
Obviously, Harish Rao raised a strong exception to the Revanth Reddy government’s decision. He described it as a blatant disregard for the assembly traditions and he would strongly condemn the undemocratic attitude of the Congress.
During the BRS regime, the PAC chairman post was given to the AIMIM leader, as the BRS had poached majority of the Congress MLAs. So, it is a tit for tat response from the Congress.
Meanwhile, Kodad MLA and state irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy’s wife Padmavathi Reddy has been named as chairperson of the estimations committee, while senior MLA K Sankaraiah has been made the chairman of public undertakings committee.