Accusing the speaker of abandoning the role of a neutral custodian, Harish Rao said the House was being run unilaterally and selectively.
Published Jan 02, 2026 | 9:41 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 02, 2026 | 9:41 PM
Harish Rao
Synopsis: The BRS has announced a complete boycott of the ongoing Telangana Assembly session, accusing the Speaker of partisan conduct and the Congress government of undermining democratic norms. Former Minister T Harish Rao said BRS members were humiliated during Assembly proceedings, denied the right to question the government, and subjected to remarks “more foul than the pollution of the Musi river” by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has announced a complete boycott of the ongoing Telangana Assembly session, alleging partisan conduct by the Speaker and an undemocratic and offensive attitude of the A Revanth Reddy-led Congress government.
Soon after staging a walkout from the House on Friday, 2 January, BRS MLAs gathered at Gun Park and held a protest. Addressing the media there, former Minister T Harish Rao launched a sharp attack on the Chief Minister, accusing him of lowering the dignity of the Assembly and throttling democratic debate.
Rao alleged that the manner in which the Assembly was being conducted was totally against democratic values. He said BRS members were made to wait for nearly 90 minutes during the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting, which he described as humiliating and deliberate.
“We had clearly agreed in the BAC to run the House for seven days and then reconvene to decide the next schedule. But in the official minutes, a note was inserted stating that the duration of the session would be left entirely to the Speaker’s discretion,” he alleged.
Accusing the speaker of abandoning the role of a neutral custodian, Harish Rao said the House was being run unilaterally and selectively. He claimed that the microphones of BRS members were switched off during Question Hour when they attempted to question the government.
“If Rahul Gandhi can criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament, why are we stopped from questioning the Chief Minister here? Why is our mic cut the moment we question him?” he asked.
The former minister said it was absurd for the speaker to “lay down rules” that the Chief Minister should not be criticised. “If the Opposition cannot speak, question or criticise, what is the need for an Assembly at all?” he asked.
Targeting Chief Minister Revanth Reddy directly, Harish Rao used unusually sharp language, saying “the stench of the Chief Minister’s words has become worse than the pollution of the Musi river.”
He remarked that instead of talking about Musi rejuvenation, “the Chief Minister should first cleanse his own speech.”
He accused Revanth Reddy of indulging in body-shaming and abusive language on the Assembly floor and said the chief minister was behaving “not like a constitutional head, but like a street bully.”
He alleged that the Assembly had been turned into a Congress Legislature Party meeting or a Gandhi Bhavan gathering.
Harish Rao further alleged that a chief minister who had “officially raised corruption rates” had no moral authority to speak about the Opposition.
Accusing the speaker of bias and the government of arrogance, he said the BRS would completely boycott the Assembly session in protest against what he termed the erosion of democratic norms.
Harish Rao further charged the Chief Minister with making irrelevant statements without answering questions raised in the House. He condemned the language used by Revanth Reddy against BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), calling it unacceptable.
“KCR is a leader of the Telangana movement and served as Chief Minister for ten years. The language used against him reflects political bankruptcy,” he said.
Branding Revanth Reddy as the “real betrayer of Telangana and Telangana’s water interests”, Harish Rao said the BRS was ready for a full-fledged discussion on the Musi project.
“Introduce a short discussion. We are prepared to debate it for an entire day. But how can Question Hour be hijacked by the Chief Minister speaking aimlessly for over an hour?” he asked.
He said the government had failed to answer specific questions, including whether Godavari water would be brought from Mallanna Sagar for Musi rejuvenation, and whether compensation would be paid to displaced poor families under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act.
Defending the BRS record, Harish Rao said the previous government had constructed 32 sewage treatment plants (STPs) for Musi clean-up and sent proposals to the Centre for 39 additional STPs, demonstrating its commitment to river rejuvenation.
Drawing a contrast between national and state politics, he remarked, “While Rahul Gandhi travels across the country holding the Constitution in his hand, here Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is murdering the Constitution on the floor of the Assembly.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
