Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Wednesday asked the Government to decide the duration of the Assembly sittings, beginning on Thursday, as per the conventions followed till now.
When the Speaker Nadendla Manohar and Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu sought the views of opposition parties as to the number of days that the Assembly should sit this time, Owaisi recalled that the government itself conceded that the Assembly had met for only 20 days this year and the sittings from Thursday are in fact the continuation of the budget session that was held in two spells and it was yet to be prorogued. No monsoon session was held in between and this session also cannot be called a winter session.
Owaisi recalled that the practice and convention was for the Government to spell out the duration of the session and thereafter elicit the views of the opposition parties.
Owaisi wanted to know from the Speaker and the Government what would they do if the Telangana Bill is sent to the Assembly by Friday. Whether the Bill would be taken up for discussion in the House immediately or whether the agenda decided in the BAC meeting would be transacted first. The government and the speaker, however, remained non-committal on this. He also asked the Speaker what would happen if the Telangana Bill is sent to the House and the opposition parties like TDP or YSR Congress also move a No Confidence Motion at the same time. Which would take precedence or discussed first? The No Trust Motion or the Telangana Bill?
Owaisi said that the Telangana Bill would be enacted by the Parliament and it would be referred to the State Legislature only for its opinion. He wanted to know whether any amendments to the Bill would be accepted when the Bill is discussed in the Assembly and if no amendments are taken up, how would there be any voting on the Bill at all. Then what is the basis for the claim that the “Bill will be defeated” in the Assembly.
Responding to the views of Akbaruddin Owaisi that the government alone should spell out the duration of the sittings this time, Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha said that the House would have a seven-day session.
Owaisi also wanted to know what is the thinking of the Government on T-Bill and whether it is being contemplated for taking it up in a special session during Sankranti as speculated. However, the government did not respond to his queries. (INN)