In the Assembly on Wednesday, there was a commotion caused by comments made by Congress MLA Komarireddy Rajagopal Reddy against BRS leader T Harish Rao. Both ruling and opposition party MLAs gathered in the well of the Speaker. The issue arose during a discussion on the ‘Telangana State Finances- White Paper’. Rajagopal Reddy accused Harish Rao of speaking lies and making comments about him not getting a minister’s post. This led to an uproar in the House, with BRS MLAs demanding a chance for Harish Rao to speak and Congress MLAs coming to the front row. The Chief Whip Adi Srinivas also entered the well, but was called back to his seat by Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu.
Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar criticized Harish Rao for sending his members into the well, stating that it was not appropriate for a senior member to do so. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka commented that the BRS members lacked patience, as they had only been in the new Assembly for two days after sitting in the opposition benches for ten years. BRS member Kadiyam Srihari argued that the Speaker had the right to regulate business and had given time to Harish Rao to speak, but the Deputy Speaker intervened and prevented it.
Afterwards, Harish Rao clarified that he had not mentioned Rajagopal Reddy’s name, but Rajagopal Reddy took his name. He also made comments about leaders paying money to get positions. The angry Congress MLAs requested Harish Rao to withdraw his comments or asked the Speaker to remove them from the records. The Speaker expunged Harish Rao’s comments.
