HYDERABAD: The Telangana state assembly is headed for a stormy budget session, slated to begin on March 10, if indications are anything to go by. Members of the main opposition party, the Congress, are mulling a no-confidence motion against Speaker S Madhusudana Chari, questioning a recent decision to suspend opposition members if they protest against the government in the House.
In a controversial move last Monday, the assembly rules committee decided to suspend members for a year if they raised slogans during the governor's address scheduled for the first day of the session. The committee meeting, chaired by the Speaker, also discussed amending rules to bring in strong punishment against members making wild allegations against the government without substantiating them.
Dismayed by the recent developments, opposition parties have cited suspension of members in the past to protest the TRS government's 'anti-democratic' policies. The Speaker had suspended the entire Opposition for the entire monsoon session last year, barring the MIM, when it demanded a one-time settlement of the farm loan waiver. Some TDP members were also suspended for the entire budget session last year for staging a protest during the governor's speech.
"While the ruling TRS has been adopting anti-democratic policies all along, the position of the Speaker is not of any help to opposition parties. Our appeal against defected members (too) has fallen on deaf ears," said S A Sampath Kumar, Congress whip in the assembly. He said that even as pleas regarding defected members were not being given attention, there seemed to be "enthusiasm to punish opposition members, if they dissent against the government".
"The situation demands that we be more proactive in order to protect democratic principles. We will move no-confidence motion against the Speaker, if they push us to take an extreme step," said Kumar.
Stepping up the ante, Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress Legislature Party would meet on March 9 to discuss a plan of action. "After exhausting all options on the floor of the House, we will launch massive mass contact programme protesting the authoritarian government," said Reddy.
Sampath Kumar, among others, had moved court seeking directions to the Speaker to dispose petitions seeking disqualification of opposition party MLAs who have been defecting to the ruling TRS in droves. While 19 MLAs from across opposition parties -- including TDP, Congress, and YSR Congress -- have defected to the TRS over a period of time, a batch of petitions seeking their disqualification is pending before the Speaker. The petitioners moved the Supreme Court after a Hyderabad High Court ruling said that there was no time frame for the Speaker to take up the petitions. The case is expected to come up for hearing in the apex court on March 14.
Senior Congress legislator, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, said, "Power of the chair has been derived from the House. While the House is supreme, position of the chair can be questioned. The no-confidence motion against the Speaker can be moved at any time as per procedure."