Revanth Reddy made the remark while the House was discussing the motion of thanks to the Governor's address.
Published Dec 16, 2023 | 3:59 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 16, 2023 | 9:13 PM
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. (X)
The temperature in the Telangana Assembly shot up on Saturday, 16 December, when Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy called KT Rama Rao an NRI — “Non-Reliable Indian” — and used an objectionable term while describing the BRS members.
The Chief Minister made the comment while intervening in a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.
Taking umbrage to BRS member Rama Rao’s remark that the Congress MLAs were gloating their victory forgetting the fact that the difference in the percentage of votes between the BRS and the Congress was not even two percent. He asked the Treasury benches to keep in mind that if they were 65, the Opposition has 54 MLAs in the 119-member-house.
“The BRS members are unaware that in a democracy whoever gets majority, however slender it might be, they will come to power. The spirit of democracy should pervade the proceedings of the House,” Revanth Reddy replied to Rama Rao, better known as KTR.
The discussion on the motion of thanks began after Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar declared BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao as the Leader of the Opposition. Later, Parigi MLA T Rammohan Reddy (Congress) moved the motion which was seconded by Chennur MLA Vivek Venkataswamy.
Revanth Reddy said that some “Non-Reliable Indians (NRIs)” do not know what the spirit of democracy means. “Even if we try to tell them what it is, they do not understand. The number is not important. What is most important is one’s commitment to democratic values,” he said.
He took KTR to task, answering point by point the issues he raised, and said that it was not the BRS but the Congress that had fought for Telangana’s share of Krishna waters. It was the Congress that had helped KCR to several positions of power. It was the Congress that helped him win the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and become a Central Minister, he said.
KTR said that Revanth Reddy was a Delhi-nominated Chief Minister and that he was not the Chief Minister the people had chosen. It was the reason for the lack of culture and decorum while addressing the Opposition members, he said, referring to the objectional word Revanth had used.
KTR also lashed out at the Chief Minister for calling him an NRI. “Look who is talking about NRIs? Let him say who had sold the Congress tickets to NRIs,” he said and sought to know whether the top leader of the Congress was not an NRI.
He also recalled Revanth Reddy’s caustic remarks on Sonia Gandhi when he was in the TDP. Everyone knows who had called Sonia Gandhi a goddess who sought sacrifices, he said and demanded the Congress immediately implement the promises it had made to the people. “If the government keeps its promises, we will appreciate it or we will continue to confront those in power,” he said.
Watch Live: CM Sri @Revanth_Anumula speaking in the discussion thanking Hon'ble Governor for the address to joint session of Telangana Legislature. https://t.co/HjgPSDgmPH
— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) December 16, 2023
Taking exception to the Revanth’s outburst, BRS member T Harish Rao said it was the TRS (now BRS) that helped the Congress come to power in 2004. He said that KCR never hankered after power or positions. When a central Cabinet berth was offered, he accepted it only after getting a promise that the Common Minimum Programme would include the creation of a separate state for Telangana.
He also recalled how magnanimously KCR had relinquished the shipping portfolio when the DMK insisted on it since he only wanted Telangana and nothing else.
Harish Rao also took objection to Revanth Reddy saying that no one had fought against the Congress government when the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy augmented the capacity of the Pothireddypadu head regulator on the foreshore of the Srisailam project on the Krishna, denying water to Telangana.
“I want to set the record straight that all the six TRS ministers in the late YSR Cabinet in 2004 had left. While leaving we had said that it was in protest against the injustice being done to Telangana,” Harish Rao said while acknowledging that P Janardhan Reddy was the only Congress leader who fought against the move.
