The newly-elected MLAs from the BJP in Telangana Assembly did not attend the State Assembly on the first day. They were protesting against the appointment of AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi as the protem Speaker. The BJP MLAs boycotted the proceedings as per the decision taken by state BJP president G. Kishan Reddy.
Kishan Reddy stated that the Congress government appointed Akbaruddin Owaisi as protem Speaker in a secret deal with AIMIM. He also claimed that since the Congress has a narrow majority in the Assembly and the government may collapse, they joined hands with AIMIM. The BJP expressed their concerns about this appointment to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.
T. Raja Singh, a BJP MLA, was the first to refuse to take oath before Akbaruddin Owaisi. He had also refused to take oath before AIMIM’s Mumtaz Ahmed Khan in the previous Assembly. All eight BJP MLAs gathered at the BJP office in the morning and were felicitated by Kishan Reddy. However, Raja Singh left in protest against the decision of the party MLAs to attend the House.
The BJP MLAs paid tributes to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at his statue at Tank Bund and were planning to proceed to the Assembly. However, they dropped their plan following directions from the party’s central leadership. Kishan Reddy announced at a news conference that party MLAs will not take oath before Akbaruddin Owaisi and will instead wait for a regular Speaker to be elected.
