As the BJP boycotted the oath-taking event of the newly election MLAs in Telangana over the appointment of Akbaruddin Owaisi as the pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly, the Congress said the BJP should ask Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan about the appointment as the order came from the Governor. With this the B team allegation, counter-allegation again surfaced in Telangana as BJP said AIMIM is the B team of the Congress while Congress said the same about BJP. "The BJP MLAs are creating confusion. The decision to make Akbaruddin Owaisi the pro-tem Speaker is of the Governor of Telangana. What we always said has finally been proven. AIMIM is the B team of BJP," Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said sharing the order of the appointment of Akbar as the pro-tem Speaker.
Who is a pro-tem Speaker?
A pro-tem Speaker is a temporary Speaker appointed for a limited time to conduct the proceedings of the House when the Speaker is yet to be elected. The seniormost member of the House is appointed as the pro-tem Speaker.
In Telangana, AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi was appointed as the pro-tem Speaker to administer the oath to the newly elected MLAs. BJP MLAs said other senior MLAs could have been the pro-tem Speaker but Akbaruddin was appointed to the post because of a tacit understanding between the Congress and the AIMIM.
BJP leaders also called the appointment anti-Hindu as Karnataka BJP leader CT Ravi tweeted that the 'anti-Hindu Congress' set aside the normal convention of appointing the senior-most MLA as the pro-tem Speaker to "appease its Vote Bank".
'I should have been as I am the seniormost but...': Uttam Reddy
Congress' Uttam Reddy said he should have been the pro-tem Speaker as the senior most MLA but since he took oath as a minister, the procedure did not allow him to be a pro-tem Speaker. "Akbaruddin is the next senior-most. We did what was the right thing to do. I cannot comment on the future equation with AIMIM. That's for our state leadership to discuss with everybody," Uttam Reddy said.
{{/usCountry}}Congress' Uttam Reddy said he should have been the pro-tem Speaker as the senior most MLA but since he took oath as a minister, the procedure did not allow him to be a pro-tem Speaker. "Akbaruddin is the next senior-most. We did what was the right thing to do. I cannot comment on the future equation with AIMIM. That's for our state leadership to discuss with everybody," Uttam Reddy said.
{{/usCountry}}Brother of AIMIM chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Akbar is a six-time MLA representing Hyderabad's Chandrayangutta assembly since 1999 (in the undivided Andhra Pradesh).