BJP urges Governor to cancel appointment of pro-tem speaker

BJP MLAs request Governor to cancel appointment of Akbaruddin Owaisi as pro-tem Speaker, citing violation of procedures, protocols and precedents. They requested her to appoint senior most member as Speaker, or they will refrain from taking oath.

Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundarajan has been requested to cancel the appointment of Majlis MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi as the pro-tem speaker by the Congress Government as it was a “blatant violation of procedures, protocols and precedents” by the newly elected BJP legislators on Saturday.

In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, a copy of which was released to the media on Saturday, the BJP MLAs elect said the party takes strong objection to the way the norms are flouted wilfully by the Government to pander to certain sections of the people in pursuit of appeasement politics by choosing Mr. Owaisi when there many members senior to him.

They requested her to ‘intervene and instruct the government to appoint a senior most member, irrespective of his/her affiliation to any political party’ as a pro-tem Speaker. The process of election of a new full-time Speaker for the newly constituted assembly should also be withheld pending nomination of a senior most member as Speaker. Or, the BJP members will be “compelled to refrain from taking oath in front of a person who is appointed against the norms”, it said.

Those in the delegation included MLA elect B Payal Shanker (Adilabad), K. Venkata Ramana Reddy (Kamareddy), Dhanpal Suryanarayana Gupta (Nizamabad-Urban), Palvai Harish Babu (Sirpur), Rama Rao Pawar (Mudhole), Paidi Rakesh Reddy (Armoor) and Aleti Maheshwar Reddy (Nirmal).