Talasani in hot waters

RTI calls his bluff on resignation from TDP

Hyderabad: Minister for Commercial Taxes Talasani Srinivas Yadav seems to be in trouble for misleading the Governor claiming that he had submitted his letter of resignation from the Assembly to the Speaker of Legislative Assembly before joining TRS and being sworn in as a minister.

The Legislature Secretariat in reply to a RTI query by Congress leader Gandra Venkataramana Reddy said that they have not received any letter from Srinivas Yadav. This has come as a shot in the arm for the sulking Opposition to launch an attack on the TRS government.

The Deputy Secretary to State Legislature and Public Information Officer Dr V Narsimhacharyulu in his reply to Gandra said, “I am to inform you that this secretariat is not in receipt of any resignation letter from Talasani Yadav, MLA.

This has pushed the minister into a defensive position. Though the news broke out in the afternoon, the minister who is in Bhadrachalam told The Hans India over phone that he was not aware of the controversy about his resignation.

“I do not know what exactly Congress had asked and what their objection in regard to my resignation issue was. I will respond on the issue only after verifying the related documents. “I will come to Hyderabad on Monday and give clarification on this issue, " he said.

Another senior leader M Shashidhar Reddy held the Governor ESL Narasimhan responsible for allowing Srinivas Yadav to be sworn in as minister without verifying if he had really resigned or not. He said he had already written a letter to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to recall the Governor.

On the other hand, the TTDP president L Ramana demanded that Srinivas Yadav quit the post immediately for cheating the people of Telangana. It may be mentioned here that hours before induction into the TRS Cabinet on December 15, Yadav displayed a two-line letter addressed to the Speaker, announcing his resignation and requested that the same may be accepted.

He claimed that he had also quit from primary membership of the TDP. Even when the MLC elections under MLA quota took place Yadav was shown as TDP member. Meanwhile, the Congress and TDP on Sunday demanded that Yadav should either quit immediately or he should be sacked by the Governor.

Talking to media Gandra said the entire Opposition has been raising the issue for long but both Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Talsani had maintained that the matter was under the consideration of the Assembly Speaker.

Now that the Assembly has called off their bluff, KCR should drop him if he believes in political morality. The Congress leader also asked Speaker S Madhusudan Chary to make his stand clear on the issue. "Despite receiving so many representations against Talasani for the last seven months, the Speaker was silent and did not reveal that he was not in receipt of any resignation letter.

He failed to maintain the sanctity of his position, he said. The Congress leaders said they will take up the issue with the Governor on Monday. “It is possible that Governor might not be aware of this. We shall be seeking his intervention,” Gandra added. Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir demanded that a cheating case under Section 420 should be registered against the Commercial Tax Minister.

Talasani should be immediately disqualified and debarred from being a member of the House," Shabbir Ali said. Congress MP V Hanumantha Rao put the onus on Governor E S L Narasimhan for his failure to check the malpractices. He alleged that the office of Governor has become inefficient in handling issues like this. “Governor hatao, Telangana bachao,” will be their slogan now he said.