On the inaugural day of the Telangana Assembly, the newly-elected BJP MLAs opted to abstain in protest against the appointment of AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi as the protem Speaker.
BJP MLAs did not participate in assembly proceedings
Under the leadership of state BJP president G. Kishan Reddy, all eight BJP MLAs chose not to participate in the proceedings, alleging a clandestine agreement between the Congress government and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the appointment of Akbaruddin Owaisi as the protem Speaker. Kishan Reddy conveyed this perspective to the media at the BJP office.
He remarked that due to the Congress's precarious majority in the Assembly and the potential for the government to collapse, they aligned with AIMIM.
BJP complains to governor over Owaisi's appointment
Contrarily, Kishan Reddy, also a union minister, contended that Owaisi is not the most senior MLA.
The BJP registered a complaint with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan regarding his appointment.
T. Raja Singh was the first BJP MLA to have declined to take the oath administered by Akbaruddin Owaisi.
In the previous Assembly, he had also refused to be sworn in before AIMIM’s Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, the protem Speaker at that time.
MLAs cancel plan to attend assembly after central leadership's direction
All eight BJP MLAs congregated at the BJP office in the morning, where Kishan Reddy commended them. Disagreeing with the decision of party MLAs to attend the House, Raja Singh abruptly left the party office. He did not accompany them during their visit to the temple at the historic Charminar.
The BJP MLAs paid homage to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at the statue at Tank Bund and were reportedly planning to proceed to the Assembly. However, they abandoned this plan following instructions from the party's central leadership.
Subsequently, Kishan Reddy announced in a press conference that party MLAs would not take the oath before Akbaruddin Owaisi. He stated that they would do so after a regular Speaker is elected.
