KCR Set the Route, But Revanth Couldn’t Follow? Congress Leaders Shocked
Even after nearly three years, no action has been taken over the alleged corruption and irregularities that took place during the previous BRS government. There is a discussion even among Congress leaders that this is where the Congress government and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy have lost their credibility. Recent developments have further shocked Congress leaders and party cadres. While failures in governance are one issue, there is now a growing discussion within the party that the Congress government and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy appear to have failed badly even on the floor of the Assembly. What is surprising, according to many, is that even though BRS chief and former Chief Minister KCR had already set a precedent during his government, the Revanth Reddy government does not seem to know how to make use of it. Against this backdrop, some ministers are questioning the way the government handled the issue of BRS MLC Tata Madhu's objectionable remarks against Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar.
There is a feeling that Revanth Reddy tried to derive political mileage from the controversy, but by taking a lenient approach instead of initiating stringent action against the member who made objectionable remarks against the Speaker, it is unclear what kind of message he intends to send. In the House, everyone spoke about the incident as a grave insult to the Speaker. However, when it came to taking action, the government confined itself to suspending Tata Madhu only until the end of the ongoing session. On Wednesday, all BRS MLAs were suspended for allegedly obstructing the proceedings of the House. As a result, there is now virtually no difference between the action taken against a member who used objectionable language against the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the action taken against the other BRS MLAs. Many had expected Tata Madhu, who made the objectionable remarks against the Speaker, to be expelled from the Legislative Council.
During the previous BRS government, then-MLAs Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Sampath Kumar were expelled from the House on the grounds that they had behaved inappropriately during the proceedings. A resolution was moved in the House and they were expelled. This time, however, despite video evidence of BRS MLC Tata Madhu making objectionable remarks against the Speaker, the Revanth Reddy government confined the punishment to suspension. This has reportedly not gone down well even with Congress cadres. One minister reportedly remarked that Revanth Reddy does not even know how to follow the precedent set by KCR in the past.
Some leaders say the matter may be referred to the Ethics Committee. However, the ruling Congress, along with the BJP and AIMIM, supported action against the member who insulted the Speaker. Despite having the option of holding a vote in the Legislative Council and taking action against him, there is a discussion among Congress leaders that the Revanth Reddy government failed to do so and ended up scoring a self-goal. A senior leader commented that the government's failure to take stringent action against the BRS MLC has reduced all the strong statements made on behalf of the government in the Assembly to mere lip service.
