Many Assembly Rule Violations In Congress Regime: BRS

Speaking about "significant shortcomings" in the functioning of the State legislature over the last two years, BRS MLA and former minister T Harish Rao today criticised what he described as a blatant disregard for constitutional norms and Assembly regulations in Telangana.

In an open letter to Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, marking the completion of two years of the latter's tenure, Rao expressed serious concerns about institutional failures, breaches of essential rules and the deterioration of the House's operations during this period.

The BRS MLA pointed to a "substantial decline" in the number of Assembly working days, and said that the failure to hold sittings as required for the state of business violated Rule 12.

He also said that frequent and abrupt adjournments without sufficient justification contravened Rule 13 (timings of sittings) and Rule 16 (adjournment procedures).

He also lamented that Question Hour and Zero Hour - the primary tools for members to hold the government accountable - were being systematically diluted. Rao argued that Rules 38 to 52 and Rules 53 to 62 were being disregarded, and that curtailing Zero Hour was depriving members of their right to raise urgent public issues.

The BRS leader also expressed grave concern over the "government's failure" to furnish replies to unstarred questions. He reminded the Speaker that Rule 39 mandated written answers to be laid on the table and that Rule 41 required them to be supplied within a prescribed timeframe. Non-compliance with these rules, he said, signalled a breakdown in legislative accountability.

The BRS MLA also said that House Committees had not been constituted for two years, in violation of Rule 196 (Appointment) and Rule 198 (Term). He cited Rule 227, which stated that committee work did not lapse upon prorogation. "The absence of committees has severely weakened legislative oversight of government functioning," he said.

Rao also said that despite the resignation of the Chairman of the Estimates Committee, the body had not been reconstituted. Ignoring Rules 199 and 201 regarding the continuous functioning and quorum of committees had, he said, brought statutory committee work to a standstill.

The letter also flagged the non-appointment of a Deputy Speaker as a major procedural violation under Rule 8. Rao argued that since the Deputy Speaker functioned as the Chairman of the Privileges Committee, the prolonged vacancy had rendered the committee non-functional, and as a result numerous privilege matters remained pending, contrary to Rules 256 and 257.

The former minister termed the inaction on disqualification petitions against defected MLAs as the most alarming concern.

"The delay in deciding these petitions is a clear violation of Article 191(2) of the Constitution," Rao said. He recalled the Supreme Court judgment in Keisham Meghachandra Singh vs Manipur Legislative Assembly Speaker, where the apex court had cautioned that decisions on disqualification needed to be made within a reasonable timeframe. "Continued non-compliance with judicial directives undermines constitutional morality and public confidence," he said.