CMO clarifies no intent to blame Assembly Speaker

HYDERABAD: Probably, taken aback by the backlash to its attempts to drag the Speaker's office into a controversy, the Chief Minister's camp on Friday beat a retreat.

The Chief Minister's Office issued a statement clarifying that it had never intended to blame anyone as reported in the media.

'It is true that a note was sent from the office of the CM to the secretary, Legislature, for initiating the process of prorogation of Assembly/Council. The reason behind sending the note is that certain ordinances are to be issued for administrative convenience,' it explained.

Pointing out that an ordinance cannot be issued without proroguing the Assembly, the CMO said the government had wanted the Speaker to prorogue the Assembly for this purpose.

'Unfortunately, certain news items appeared in media about the issue of prorogation of Assembly. It is clarified that it is a normal administrative procedure,' the CMO said.

The statement came at a time when Kiran Reddy's camp is facing flak for allegedly trying to blame the Speaker over the issue of not proroguing the House.

However, the press release did not answer some key questions such as why the government had not pressed for proroguing the Assembly till now even though the previous session concluded on June 21. Kiran's detractors too made light of the reasons cited by the CMO.

'There has been a vertical split in the Cabinet along regional lines ever since the Congress Working Committee decided to bifurcate the State. Since then, the State Cabinet has been seldom meeting. At this juncture, how is it possible to issue ordinances?,' a Congress leader questioned.

Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, close aide of the Chief Minister, swung into damage control exercise and said, 'We never tried to blame the Speaker. We have the highest regard for the Speaker.'

According to sources, the CM's camp has taken a U-turn as it faced a lot of criticism not only from T Congress leaders but also Seemandhra leaders. Even Delhi bosses reportedly strongly disapproved of the leaks by Kiran's camp against the office of the Speaker.

Interestingly, even as this debate is going on, former minister P Shankar Rao, who had given a notice to the Speaker requesting him to convene the Assembly to move a no-confidence motion against the CM, argued that as he had already served the notice before the House was prorogued, the Assembly could not be prorogued now without taking a decision on his notice.