Telangana BJP MLAs skip oath administered by Owaisi

HYDERABAD: BJP’s eight MLAs on Saturday boycotted the oath-taking ceremony in the Telangana assembly to protest AIMIM legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi being made the Pro-tem speaker. BJP functionaries accused Congress of appeasement politics and said that the government was trying to create a safety net around itself by keeping AIMIM happy as it had only four MLAs over a simple majority in the House.
Even as Akbaruddin administered oath to newly elected MLAs on the first day of the assembly session, BJP legislators, led by T Raja Singh, refused to be sworn in.
While Raja accused Akbaruddin of being anti-Hindu and not respecting other religions, BJP MLAs submitted a representation at Raj Bhavan, alleging that the rules had not been followed (in appointing the Pro-tem speaker).
In their representation, they alleged that the state government violated the norms, procedures, protocols and precedents of the assembly.
“As per Article 188 of the Constitution, the seniormost member in terms of number of years in the assembly should be nominated as Pro-tem speaker.
Although there are many members who are senior to Akbaruddin, the state government chose to appoint him, which was a clear violation of the norms,” the BJP MLAs’ representation said.
BJP MLAs said the norms were flouted by the Congress government to pander to certain sections of people in pursuit of appeasement politics.
They also urged the government to set aside the appointment of the Pro-tem speaker and withhold the process. Telangana BJP state chief G Kishan Reddy alleged that Congress had entered into a secret understanding with AIMIM.