Uttam Kumar Reddy of the Congress stated that although he was the most senior, he was already sworn in as a minister and hence could not serve as pro-tem Speaker.
The Congress claimed the BJP should question Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan about the appointment as the order came from the Governor, while the BJP abstained from the newly elected MLAs in Telangana’s oath-taking ceremony over Akbaruddin Owaisi’s appointment as the Assembly’s pro-tem Speaker. With this, the B team accusation and counter-allegation resurfaced in Telangana, with the BJP claiming that AIMIM is the Congress’s B squad and the Congress remarking that the BJP is their B team. “The MLAs for the BJP are causing chaos.
The Telangana governor made the choice to choose Akbaruddin Owaisi as Speaker pro tem.
We have finally had proof of what we always said. AIMIM is the BJP’s B squad, according to Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, who also shared the order appointing Akbar as Speaker pro tem.
A pro-tem speaker is who?
When the Speaker has not yet been elected, a pro-tem Speaker is a temporary Speaker chosen to lead the House’s proceedings for a set period of time. The pro-tem Speaker of the House is chosen by the most senior member.
In Telangana, Akbaruddin Owaisi, an AIMIM MLA, was designated as the pro-tem Speaker to conduct the oath-giving ceremony for the recently elected MLAs. Other senior MLAs may have served as the pro-tem Speaker, according to BJP MLAs, but Akbaruddin was chosen for the position due to an unspoken agreement between the Congress and the AIMIM.
The Karnataka BJP leader CT Ravi tweeted that the “anti-Hindu Congress” had abandoned the custom of designating the senior-most MLA as the acting Speaker in order to “appease its Vote Bank.” Other BJP leaders similarly referred to the appointment as anti-Hindu.
“Being the senior most, I should have been,” said Uttam Reddy Congress.”
Uttam Reddy stated that since he took an oath as a minister, he was not eligible to be the pro-tem Speaker even though, as the senior most MLA, he should have been. “The next senior most is Akbaruddin. We followed the proper course of action. Regarding the future equation with AIMIM, I cannot comment. That’s something our state leadership should talk to everyone about,” stated Uttam Reddy.
Akbar, a six-time MLA representing Hyderabad’s Chandrayangutta assembly since 1999 (in the then-undivided state of Andhra Pradesh), is the brother of AIMIM chairman and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
There was some drama before the inaugural session of the third Telangana Assembly got underway in Hyderabad on Saturday. Akbaruddin Owaisi, a member of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and pro tem speaker, was sworn in by Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan. However, some BJP MLAs have boycotted the oath-taking ceremony, which has caused controversy surrounding his appointment.
Raja Singh, the newly elected BJP MLA from Goshamahal, declared via a video message that he and the other MLAs from the saffron party will not take part in the oath-taking ceremony, which will be presided over by Akbaruddin Owaisi.
Because of the anti-Hindu sentiments made by Akbaruddin Owaisi, Raja Singh declared that he would never take an oath as a legislator in front of AIMIM “as long as he is alive”. “Can I take oath in front of a person (Akbaruddin Owaisi) who made anti-Hindu comments in the past?” said Raja Singh.
According to Raja Singh, like his predecessor K Chandrashekar Rao, the current chief minister Revanth Reddy was terrified of AIMIM. In actuality, the Goshamahal MLA was not sworn in when an AIMIM member was appointed pro tem Speaker in 2018.
Who is appointed Speaker Pro Tem? In a state Assembly, the most senior member is designated as the pro tem Speaker in accordance with convention. For a sixth term, Akbaruddin Owaisi has been elected as an MLA from the Chandrayangutta constituency.
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Raja Singh has claimed that Revanth Reddy was attempting to pacify the minority while there were worthy candidates who could have been named pro tem Speaker, alleging a breach of Assembly regulations.
“There is a tradition of a senior person being appointed as the pro-tem Speaker in the Assembly,” Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy stated. The BJP is against AIMIM’s Akbaruddin Owaisi being named pro-tem Speaker in accordance with a deal (that Congress made) with AIMIM.”
State Congress spokesperson Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy retaliated against the BJP by stating that the appointment of a senior MLA to the position of pro tem Speaker is mandated by the Constitution. By designating him as Pro Tem Speaker, we are not demonstrating our support for AIMIM.
The Congress spokeswoman went on, “We don’t have to polarise a community to survive in politics.”
In the meantime, a group of seven BJP members has travelled to Hyderabad’s Raj Bhawan to meet with the governor and express their disapproval of Akbaruddin Owaisi’s selection as acting speaker.