The much-anticipated restoring of the Assembly membership of the two expelled Congress MLAs Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Sampath Kumar is turning out to be more and more elusive.
The crucial meeting between Assembly Speaker C Madhusudhana Chary and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader K Jana Reddy and other Congress legislators today to get the expulsion of the two Congress members revoked failed to yield any result.
The two MLAs were expelled following a ruckus in the Assembly on the opening day of the budget session while the Governor was addressing a joint sitting of the Assembly and the Council, in which
Council Chairman Swamy Goud sustained an eye injury.
The expelled MLAs
moved the High Court terming the action against them undemocratic and unconstitutional, and a single judge bench and later a division bench of the court set aside the legislature's order of expulsion.
Though as many as 50 days have elapsed after the first verdict of the High Court came in favour of the expelled Congress MLAs, neither the TRS government nor the Assembly have acted so far to resolve the issue.
On a representation made by CLP leader Jana Reddy, who is also the Leader Of Opposition, the Assembly Speaker gave an audience to him today. Accordingly, Reddy along with other Congress legislators including TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy met the Speaker in his chambers in the Assembly this morning.
The Congress delegation submitted a memorandum to the Speaker highlighting the verdicts of the High Court and appealed to him to take immediate action to restore the membership of the two expelled MLAs.
At one stage during the discussions, there was a fracas when recently inducted Congress member Revanth Reddy picked up an argument with the Speaker. Irked by the behaviour of Revanth Reddy, the Speaker threatened to leave, forcing Jana Reddy to control his party member.
That may have had its impact, however. Jana Reddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy and other senior Congress members tried to impress upon the Speaker the need to revoke the expulsions. However, the Speaker, after hearing the arguments of the Congress legislators, said that he was bound by certain rules and legislature practices, and hence could not take any decision right away, thus dashing the hopes of the Congress legislators in getting the membership of the expelled MLAs restored.