Hyderabad: Telangana Legislative Affairs Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu accused former minister Harish Rao of adopting a threatening tone towards Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar.
Speaking during the Assembly debate, the minister questioned the Opposition’s authority to dictate how the Speaker should conduct the House. He asked who had given Opposition leaders the right to tell the Speaker what to do or avoid.
He said such conduct amounted to an attack on the constitutional institution of the Speaker. According to him, threatening the Speaker’s office undermined democratic functioning.
The minister also rejected arguments that uncertainty surrounded the remarks against the Speaker. He said video recordings clearly showed what had happened.
Sridhar Babu rejects criticism over women legislators
The minister dismissed claims that the government and Speaker had ignored the incidents involving women legislators.
He said the Speaker had already directed officials to submit a detailed report on the incident involving women MLAs. The House had therefore taken the matter seriously, he said.
However, he accused Opposition leaders of adopting a double standard. They were using the women legislators’ issue while seeking to set aside the alleged direct insult to the Speaker, he said.
The minister questioned the demand to ignore what he described as an attack on the Speaker’s constitutional office. He said the Assembly could not overlook such an issue.
He warned that authorities would take action according to legislative rules. The proceedings would follow the established rules of the House, he maintained.