The first day of the Telangana Assembly had all the hallmarks of a stormy affair to be witnessed for the rest of its term with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) infusing a ‘communal’ tone by refusing to take oath from Pro-tem Speaker Akaburuddin Owaisi, who belongs to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
All the eight BJP MLAs stayed away from the oath-taking ceremony that began on Saturday, alleging that the Congress government had begun appeasing the MIM from day one itself. Controversial MLA T. Raja Singh, who was elected from Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, said the BJP would never take the oath if Mr. Owaisi was in the Chair as he was not only ineligible but also had abused Hindu gods earlier. Mr. Singh made this clear a day before the sessions and the remaining seven MLAs too followed suit.
Earlier, in the day six-time MLA from Chandrayangutta Akbaruddin Owaisi was appointed the Pro-tem Speaker for the first session of the third Telangana Assembly by the Government. Officials said he was appointed on the advice of the Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and his name was sent to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who administered the oath to him at Raj Bhavan paving way for the oath taking ceremony of the MLAs at the Assembly.
