Revanth Reddy blames BRS for stalling Monsoon session over land fears

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has accused the main Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of deliberately obstructing the Monsoon session of the legislative assembly, alleging that the party acted out of fear that its "misdeeds" on land issues would be exposed.

Speaking on the conduct of BRS members in the House, the Chief Minister said they created a ruckus because they were anxious about scrutiny of alleged plundering of government lands and the failure to implement fee reimbursement, among other matters. He said the BRS legislators did not cooperate with Speaker G. Prasad Kumar, who had allowed them to speak even after they hurled abuses at him.

Mr. Revanth Reddy's remarks came in response to what he described as verbal abuse of the police, a semi-nude protest and insults directed at the Speaker. He noted that the Speaker had permitted the BRS members to attend the session in the expectation that they would apologise to the Chair and take part in debates on people's issues. Instead, the BRS MLAs disrupted proceedings, forcing the Speaker to suspend them.

"Respecting the Speaker is a tradition for the members. The Speaker is the one who protects the rights of every member in the House," the Chief Minister said.

He also clarified that the rules being implemented by the present government were framed by the previous regime. The Speaker issued directives in line with those rules, and the police stopped the members from entering the assembly premises, he said.

Responding to the BRS's claim that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had entered Parliament wearing a black T-shirt, Mr. Revanth Reddy said the Lok Sabha has no restrictions on wearing black T-shirts. He added that had Speaker Om Birla issued orders prohibiting entry with T-shirts bearing slogans, they would have complied.