BAC: No clarity on voting, resolution

Hyderabad: In view of the communiqué received from the President of India Pranab Mukherjee to extend the deadline to discuss the draft T Bill by one week, the Assembly decided to hold session everyday till January 30. The only exception would be on January 26 which happens to be the Republic Day. The leader of the house N Kiran Kumar Reddy and the leader of opposition were conspicuous by their absence.

This decision was taken here on Thursday at the meeting of the Business Advisory committee. According to sources, the BAC witnessed some heated exchanges as the Speaker N Manohar refused to accept the proposal of YSRCP to hold the session from 9 am to 9 pm. It is learnt that the Speaker did not make any commitment on the issue. He also did not make any commitment on the issue of voting on the clauses and the Draft T Bill.

It is learnt that MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi said that there were speculations that the government might move a resolution opposing the Bill. He urged the Speaker not to allow any such move.

TRS leader T Harish Rao and TDP Telangana MLA E Dayakar Rao demanded that the Speaker should also reject any demand to put the bill to vote since the President had referred it to the Assembly only to record the views of the members.

It is learnt that the Rao and MIM leaders wanted the Speaker to clarify how Kiran could write a letter to the President seeking more time without taking the consent of the Speaker or consulting the cabinet. Rao said that he had posed the same question to the minister for Finance but he could not get any reply from him.

The YSRCP deputy leader B Sobha Nagi Reddy, said when they pressed for voting on the Bill, the Speaker told them that he would go by the rule book on the issue but did not give any clarity, she said.

The issue of Chief Minister’s speech on the Bill also figured at the meeting. MIM leader Akbaruddin objected to the strategy of CM to deliver his speech in a phased manner.