Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has hit back at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the latter’s ignorance of constitutional provisions with regard to the Governor’s address to the State Legislature and termed the omission of address by the head of the Government this time “purely a technical issue”.
“The previous session of the State Legislature held between September 24 and October 8 was not prorogued (concluded technically with issuance of a notification by the Governor on the advice of the Council of Ministers) and the session convened from March 7 is continuation of the last session”, Ministers T. Harish Rao (Finance and Health) and V. Prashanth Reddy (Legislative Affairs, Roads and Buidlings) said here on Tuesday.
As per the constitutional provision, the Governor shall address new session of the Legislature in every calender year. However, the notification issued for the sitting from March 7 was continuation of the previous session. It would be wrong constitutionally only if the Governor was invited to address the Legislature without proroguing the previous session, the Ministers explained while addressing a press conference.
Giving the examples of Parliament sessions/sittings held without President’s address and Legislature sessions without Governor’s address in the past, the Ministers said there was no Governor’s address in 1971 March session of the combined Andhra Pradesh Legislature as the session held in December 1970 was not prorogued, when Kasu Brahmananda Reddy was the Chief Minister.
More recently, there was no Governor’s address in March 2014 after the session held in February 2014 was not prorogued. Similarly, there was no Governor’s address in January 2020 session after the one held in December 2019. At national level, there was no President’s address to Parliament in January 2004 as December 2003 session was not prorogued, they explained.
They also pointed out that the Supreme Court struck down a petition filed by Ramdas Athawale in 2010 on the 2004 session as the apex court observed that there was no President’s speech since the previous session was not prorogued.
The Ministers alleged that it was BJP that had been violating the Constitution blatantly by forming governments in Goa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh without securing required majority seats. They also recollected how the Narendra Modi Government had removed the then Gujarat Governor Kamala Beniwal, a freedom fighter, in 2014. They alleged that the BJP was trying to saffronise the Raj Bhavan’s by misusing the Governors’ system.
