Senior Member of Legislative Council from Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Gutha Sukender Reddy, was re-elected Chairman of Telangana Legislative Council on Monday.
Protem Chairman Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri declared his election unanimous based on Mr. Reddy’s sole nomination for the post, nine other sets of nominations filed on his behalf and also the support offered for him by four non-TRS members of the House – two from AIMIM, a Congress and an Independent member.
Mr. Sukender Reddy, who had started his political career in 1981 as a ward member in Urumadla gram panchayat in Nalgonda district, climbed up the ladder to become a Member of Legislative Assembly once and the Lok Sabha thrice. In the career spanning over four decades, he had been part of the ruling Telugu Desam Party and the Congress till he joined the TRS in 2016.
In the past term as the Council chairman, Mr. Sukender Reddy occupied the chair for 21 months till June 2021 when his MLC term expired.
Cabinet Ministers Vemula Prashant Reddy, K.T. Rama Rao, Mohammed Mahmood Ali, T. Harish Rao, Ch. Malla Reddy, G. Jagadish Reddy, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Satyavathi Rathod and V. Srinivas Goud, congratulating him on his election on Monday, recalled their association with him and remembered him as a Telanganavaadi regardless of his party affiliations.
Members pitch for reforms
According to senior MLC Kadiyam Srihari, shifting the Council premises for Conduct of Business to the Legislative Assembly’s old premises is a necessary step to consider.
“Compared to this premises which is ‘cut off and far’ for easy access and exchange with Ministers and others, the old premises abuts the present Assembly Hall and is spacious. The shifting will facilitate the Council to function more conveniently and effectively,” he said.
Independent MLC A. Narsi Reddy, reminding that only six States in the country – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – have bicameral State Legislatures, said increased allotment of time would improve the deliberate practice. Fellow members Kadiyam Srihari, Jeevan Reddy and Kalkavuntla Kavitha, who also pitched for more time allotment said Telangana State Council is already a leader with regard to quality in practice of business.
For Government Whip M.S. Prabhakar Rao and Banda Prakash, strengthening of the Committees of Legislatives Council was overdue for various reasons, including COVID-19.
According to MLCs L. Ramana and Farooq Hussain, first-timers in the Council need training camps. They would need hand-holding, an orientation on how business is transacted, how issues are raised and what customs and traditions are followed, they said.
Thanking the House for the greetings and the heart-warming memories, Chairman Mr. Sukender Reddy said all members would be given equal opportunity and time, and while assuring of unbiased conduct while transacting business, he said measures would also be taken to adhere to traditions and improving the standards of the House.
