Speakers at receiving end

Both Chary, Kodela may face no-confidence motion

Hyderabad: The Speakers of both the Telugu speaking states Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will face a no-confidence motion. While the Telugu Desam Party is contemplating to move a no-confidence motion against Telangana Assembly Speaker Sirikonda Madhusudana Chary, the Opposition YSRCP has given the notice of no-confidence against AP Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao. According to TDP leaders E Dayakar Rao and A Revanth Reddy, the party was seriously examining the proposal since the Speaker had failed to take action against the defectors, but also rendered injustice to them in the allotment of seats in the House as well as in the business advisory committee meeting.

They said the Speaker had promised to make public all the video footages pertaining to the ruckus that took place during the address of Governor ESL Narsimhan to both Houses but failed to do so. They said a final decision in this regard would be taken after a meeting with their party chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

The two TDP leaders on Thursday called on senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition K Jana Reddy and sought Congress support for motion against the Speaker. They will also meet the BJP leaders and seek their support as well. However, the T Congress does not seem to be inclined to vote in favour of the motion but is likely to utilise the occasion to air their grievances since their plea for action against Congress members who migrated to the TRS was also pending with the Speaker for long.

Reacting to this, TS Minister for Legislative Affairs T Harish Rao said that the suspended Telugu Desam leaders will be the losers in the game. He said it was a dirty game plan to throw mud on the ruling party though there is no basis for such a move. The Speaker had suspended them for the entire session of the House for disrespecting national anthem.

In a chat with Harish Rao in the lobbies of the state Assembly, BJP floor leader K Laxman said that suspending TDP members for entire session was a harsh move. Harish said if they had not taken harsh measures the Telangana Assembly proceedings could have resembled AP Assembly. The House was functioning smoothly only due to the resolve of the government to ensure smooth conduct of the proceedings, he added.

The Legislative Affairs Minister further stated that constructive debates, as seen in the present Telangana Assembly, were not witnessed in the last ten years. “Government would not entertain protests near podium to obstruct proceedings of the House,” he added. Meanwhile, the YSRCP members on Thursday gave a notice of no-confidence motion against Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao to Legislature Secretary Satyanarayana.

The party also announced that it would not attend the House during debate on the budget this session except on the day of voting on the no-confidence motion against the Speaker. The YSRCP also called on the Governor earlier in the day and complained against the hostile attitude of the government and expressed displeasure over the partisan functioning of the Speaker. Speaking to mediapersons, Jagan accused the government of repeatedly interrupting him from speaking. He said the government does not have patience to know the facts. The government is muzzling the Opposition voice he alleged.