Opposition leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who faced flak for skipping the assembly sessions, was present.
Hyderabad: The first day of the Budget session of the Telangana Legislature witnessed a competitive sloganeering between ruling Congress and opposition BRS members in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
The session began with Governor Jishnu Dev Varma addressing the joint session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, but was soon disrupted by opposition BRS members raising slogans against the Congress government.
Marking his return to the Assembly after seven months, BRS chief and former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was present as his party members vocally opposed the Governor's address. Whenever the Governor highlighted Congress-led government's achievements, welfare schemes, and development programmes BRS members countered with chants of "bogus and fake."
Accusing the Congress government of corruption, they repeatedly shouted "20% commission" slogans, alleging that commissions were being taken to clear bills.
Congress MLAs did not hold back, responding with their own slogans and desk-thumping in defence of their government's initiatives. The clash intensified when the Governor mentioned Congress government's achievements of waiving crop loans worth `20,616 crore, providing a `500 per quintal bonus for paddy, offering gas cylinders at Rs 500, launching the Mahalakshmi free bus scheme for women, filling over 55,000 government jobs within a year, securing huge investments at the Davos WEF summit, plans for developing Future City, and protecting Telangana’s water interests in the Krishna river dispute.
Among the BRS members leading the protest from the back benches were K.T. Rama Rao, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, and Padi Kaushik Reddy, who repeatedly chanted "bogus and fake." However, BRS chief Chandrashekar Rao and senior leader T. Harish Rao, seated in the front row, remained silent throughout the session.
Chandrashekar Rao entered the House at 10.55 am, five minutes before the session commenced at 11 am. He remained seated through the Governor’s speech and left soon after its conclusion. A few ministers and Congress MLAs greeted him with folded hands from their seats, to which he responded similarly. Minister Tummala Nageshwar Rao, however, approached him personally for a handshake.
The verbal duel reached a peak when the Governor spoke about the government’s initiative to establish Integrated Residential Schools, prompting BRS members to raise slogans regarding food poisoning and deaths in such institutions. Congress members retaliated by accusing the BRS of failing to increase mess charges for seven years during its tenure. Another flashpoint emerged when the Governor mentioned the caste census, with BRS dismissing it as "bogus" and Congress defending it as "historic."
The opening session set the tone for a stormy Budget discussion, with both sides showing no signs of backing down. The political battle in the Telangana Assembly is expected to intensify further in the coming days.
