BRS Boycotts 3rd PAC Meeting

BRS MLAs Vemula Prashanth Reddy and Gangula Kamalakar, and MLCs Satyavathi Rathod and L Ramana, walked out of the 3rd Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting in the Assembly today.

Speaking on the occasion, Prashanth Reddy criticized the appointment of Arikapudi Gandhi as PAC chairman and the rejection of former minister Harish Rao's nomination by the Assembly Speaker, calling the actions undemocratic.

"This government has broken the long-standing tradition of appointing the PAC chairman in consultation with the leader of the opposition. In the previous meeting, our MLC Ramana requested the Speaker to consult the opposition leader before selecting the chairman. It is unfair to appoint Gandhi, whose disqualification case for changing his party is still under trial, as PAC chairman and proceed with the meetings. Since the Speaker ignored our concerns, we protested and boycotted the meeting," he said.

He also said that the disqualification case of the 10 BRS MLAs who defected to the Congress was being heard in the Supreme Court and that the PAC chairman himself was among them.

Kamalakar also said that the 3rd PAC meeting was boycotted in protest against appointing an MLA who betrayed the BRS and was made PAC chairman against established traditions. He also insisted that former minister Harish Rao be appointed in place of Gandhi.