The winter session of the Assembly is unlikely to resume on December 10 as was decided earlier by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC).
No bulletin has been issued by the Legislature Secretariat till Friday night on recommencement of the session. The government appears to be wary of continuing the session which was adjourned sine die by Speaker Nadendla Manohar after the House passed the SC/ST Sub-Plan (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Resources) Bill on December 2.
During the brief session when the House debated the Sub-Plan Bill, a bulletin was also circulated to the members listing the business to be taken up once it resumed the sitting following the seven-day interregnum. Even as all political parties were expecting the House to recommence from December 10, Transport Minister Botcha Satyanarayana gave a new twist on Friday saying that it was unlikely that the Assembly would continue with the winter session.
“When the Speaker has adjourned the House sine die, where is the question of resuming the session? If at all the winter session has to commence again, a fresh notification has to be issued after the State Cabinet decides to hold Assembly session again,” he told reporters.
Sources in the Legislature Secretariat maintained that there was no word from the government on resuming the session. However, the Speaker could notify the resumption of the House after giving three days notice to the members. Congress sources said the government was treading cautiously in the wake of the recent 22-vote margin in the defeat of an Opposition-sponsored amendment to the Sub-Plan Bill. It was not keen to face a similar situation in the House and recalled that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had expressed his displeasure at the functioning of the government Whips at that time. When the House was in session, the ruling party floor managers were unable to ensure the required presence of the Congress members in the House, causing acute embarrassment to the government. Besides, some Ministers were openly criticising the Chief Minister. A senior MLA said if some Opposition party moved a no-confidence motion, the government could face trouble, given the suspect loyalties of some legislators.
CPI (M)’s demand
Meanwhile the Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Julakanti Ranga Reddy has requested the Government to conduct the winter session of the Assembly from December 10 to 21 as announced by it earlier.
In a statement issued here on Friday, Mr. Reddy said a doubt was created among people over the conduct of winter session since Speaker Nadendla Manohar had adjourned the house sine die on December 2 after the Bill on SC/ST Sub-Plans was passed instead of announcing that the House would go for recess till December 10. The doubts over winter session were gaining strength as there was no announcement from the government on convening the Assembly from December 10 even as only three days were left.
