Hyderabad: A day after the Supreme Court questioned the delay by the assembly speaker in deciding the pleas for disqualification of BRS MLAs who have switched loyalties to Congress over the past 15 months, chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday dismissed talk of bypolls for the seats held by these turncoats.
The talk of bypolls was just a ruse by the opposition to keep the state in election mode and the govt bogged down in electoral politics instead of focussing on development, he asserted.
Referring to the defections of Congress and TDP MLAs engineered by the previous BRS govt, Revanth said in the assembly that the turncoats were not disqualified then, nor were there any bypolls. “So, how can there be bypolls now?” he asked, pointing out that between 2014 and 2023, some of the defectors were even made ministers by BRS govt, which is not the case now.
Since Congress came to power in Dec 2023, at least 10 BRS MLAs have shifted allegiance to the party, prompting BRS to move court. The next hearing in the Supreme Court in the matter is on April 3.
The CM said the laws pertaining to the powers of the speaker and the assembly had not changed since 2014, when the then BRS govt had engineered defections of Congress MLAs.
Assuring the House that govt would follow the traditions and procedures of the past, the CM said, “We will not follow in the footsteps of former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. If we were to do that, we will fall into a pit. We all need to focus on development of Telangana and not on bypolls, which is the opposition’s attempt to divert our focus.”
Revanth also rejected attempts to portray his meetings with opposition MLAs as defection bids, and said legislators from all parties met him only to discuss development works for their respective constituencies.
“My meetings with MLAs from various parties are only for their respective constituency development. But photographs and videos in the media have been misinterpreted as defections. Even if the MLA from Gajwel (KCR) or Siddipet (Harish Rao) or any other constituency comes to me, I will take their representation and work for their constituency development, which I have done in the case of many legislators from parties other than Congress. In terms of development of the state, I will not hold anything against any party,” he said.
“I am available to MLAs from all parties. Recently, Secunderabad MLA Padma Rao of BRS visited me and he asked for some constituency work. I ordered it on the spot,” he said, urging all MLAs to focus on the progress of the state by attracting investments and creating jobs.
He sought to remind the opposition, particularly BRS, that the people of Telangana had already given their verdict, and urged the party to offer constructive suggestions rather than engaging in disruptive politics.
Unlike the fraudulent state budgets during the previous govt, 95% of the budget presented by Bhatti Vikramarka would be realised as planned, he said.
400 acres at Kancha Gachibowli is govt land: CM
CM Revanth Reddy on Wednesday said 400 acres at Kancha Gachibowli had no connection to the University of Hyderabad. It was handed over to a private entity 25 years ago, he said. The Congress govt fought a legal battle in the Supreme Court to reclaim it and has now transferred the land to TGIIC for an open auction to attract multinational companies and create jobs, the CM said.
“There are no tigers or deer in that area as being said by vested interests, but some cunning foxes (BRS) are trying to obstruct and oppose development,” he said.
“It is the opposition groups who are provoking student protests and indirectly getting PILs filed in court to stop the project. Why were there no protests when IMG Bharatha was given the land in the undivided Andhra Pradesh?” he asked
He asked BRS and Harish Rao: “Do you want to oppose land acquisition, industrial growth, investments and creation of jobs in Telangana? Did not the BRS govt acquire land for various projects? Harish Rao should clarify his party’s stand on land acquisition for key projects such as the Regional Ring Road and Future City”
