Assembly security stops BRS MLAs from addressing media, KTR others sit on protest

HYDERABAD: In an unprecedented move the Telangana Legislative Assembly security stopped BRS MLAs from addressing media at the media point when they tried to register their protest against the foul language used by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy against former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao during a debate on vote-on-account budget on Wednesday.

When the BRS MLAs including working president KT Rama Rao, former Ministers T Harish Rao and Kadiam Srihari were moving towards the media point the Assembly security stopped them and asked them to seek permission from the Speaker to address the media at the media point. However, the BRS MLAs argued that there was no such stipulation earlier and they must be allowed to speak freely.

The Chief Marshal then left to get clarity from the Speaker. However, he returned and said that permission was denied. “Is this the breaking of shackles that the Congress talked about, there was no such rule during ten years of our Government and we allowed the opposition to address media without any restrictions,” KTR said.

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The entire BRS legislative party members sat down in a mark of protest and refused to move from their place and started shouting slogans against the effort of the Congress Government to gag the voice of opposition. “Chief Minister uses the filthiest language against our leader inside the Assembly. We were not allowed to protest inside the House. Outside too they bring a new rule and stop us from explaining our stand before the media,” Kadiam Sri Hari said.

He pointed out that the Speaker allowed the Chief Minister to abuse KCR in a derogatory manner and let those words enter the Assembly records. “We were not even allowed to demand the Speaker to expunge those words from the records. If allowed we can also reply in the same coin,” he said.

BRS leaders while protesting against the way they were restricted from addressing the media said that the Congress Government reminded the black days of emergency during the rule of the so-called “Indiramma Rajyam’.

Former Legislative Assembly Minister Vemula Prshanth Reddy said that there was no rule that resrtricted the opposition to address the media at the designated media point. He said that the Congress Government which said trhat they would let the opposition talk for days without any restrictions was trying gag their voices.