BJP MLAs boycott Akbaruddin Owaisi's oath-taking ceremony as Telangana interim assembly speaker

The Telangana BJP boycotted the oath-taking ceremony of Akbaruddin Owaisi, an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader, who was appointed as the interim speaker for the first session of the third Telangana State Legislative Assembly. BJP MLAs objected to Owaisi's appointment, claiming it violated norms as there were other senior members in the House.

In a letter to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, BJP MLAs cited the violation of rules and urged her to set aside Owaisi's nomination as pro-tem speaker. They warned of boycotting the swearing-in event if their concerns were not addressed.

The letter stated, "In this context, the TS-BJP requests you to set aside the nomination of Sri Akbaruddin Owaisi as Protem Speaker as it constitutes a violation of norms and instructs appointment of the seniormost member. The TS-BJP also requests you to instruct the officials concerned to withhold the process of election of a new full-time Speaker for the newly constituted assembly pending nomination of a seniormost member as Speaker. The TS-BJP, otherwise, will be compelled to refrain from taking oath in front of a person who is appointed against the norms."

AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi was appointed as the pro-tem speaker, a move contested by the BJP, which argued that the tradition was to appoint the senior most person in the Assembly to the role. G Kishan Reddy, the state BJP president, alleged that Owaisi's appointment was a result of an understanding between Congress and AIMIM, claiming Congress's thin majority in the Assembly could lead to a collapse, and hence, AIMIM was strategically placed as pro-tem Speaker.

Reddy expressed opposition to the appointment based on a violation of legislative assembly rules and asserted that BJP members would refrain from taking the oath with Owaisi in the chair. He accused Congress of appeasement politics and violating legislative traditions merely three days after assuming power. Reddy highlighted the BJP's claim of a tacit understanding between Congress and AIMIM, emphasizing that the election of the Speaker should occur after appointing a senior member as pro-tem Speaker.

The BJP plans to raise the issue with the Governor and insisted that their MLAs take the oath only after the regular Speaker assumes office. Reddy concluded by stating that the true colours of Congress have been revealed, urging the people to question the criteria behind Owaisi's appointment in violation of rules.

With inputs from PTI

Also Read: 'Am not bossy, am the boss', Zoya Akhtar shares how she works with her team during shoots