Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLAs on Saturday, September 21, walked out of the first Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in a protest against the appointment of Serilingampally MLA as Chairman Arekapudi Gandhi was illegal.
BRS MLAs Prashant Reddy, Gangula Kamalakar, and MLCs Satyavathy Rathore and L Ramana walked out of the meeting.
Arekapudi Gandhi switched loyalties to Congress after winning the Serilingampally seat on a BRS ticket.
The BRS has been unhappy about the appointment of Arekapudi Gandhi as the Chairman of PAC. Criticising the Telangana government for the move, Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao stated that there has been a tradition of appointing a people’s representative from the opposition party as the PAC chairman, like Congress MP KC Venugopal appointed as the chairman of PAC at the national level.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) had questioned how the Congress appointed an MLA who defected from the opposition to the ruling party as the PAC chairman. He pointed out how Gandhi had won on a BRS ticket but defected to Congress later in Telangana.
Earlier this month, a bitter war of words also broke out between Huzurabad MLA P Kaushik Reddy and Gandhi which turned ugly when the latter, along with his supporters, reached the BRS MLA’s house in Kondapur and dared him to come out.
Gandhi, who defected from BRS to Congress in July, resorted to the action after Kaushik Reddy declared that he would go to Gandhi’s house, hoist the BRS flag, and offer him a BRS scarf. Kaushik Reddy had thrown the challenge after Gandhi claimed that he was still with BRS.
During the protest outside Kaushik Reddy’s house, some supporters of Gandhi allegedly barged into the premises and damaged window panes and flower pots. Police had arrested Gandhi and his supporters. On a complaint by Kaushik Reddy, police booked an attempt-to-murder case against Gandhi and others. His son and Miyapur corporator Uppalapati Srikanth, corporator Venkatesh Goud, and others were also named as accused.
BRS leaders, including senior leader T Harish Rao were placed under house arrest to foil their plan to gather at Gandhi’s house in retaliation to the attack on BRS Huzurabad MLA P Kaushik Reddy’s house by Gandhi’s supporters.
