Govt extends assembly session by one day

HYDERABAD: The ongoing session of the Telangana Assembly was extended by a day to Saturday to enable the government to make a statement on the Himachal Pradesh tragedy, in which 24 students from the city were washed away in river Beas.
"The welfare of the families of Telangana martyrs and helping out the families of the students who died in Himachal Pradesh are the two important issues for the government.That is the reason why we took a decision to extend the session," said a minister. The decision was taken when the business advisory committee (BAC) met at the Speaker's chamber following the governor's address to the joint session of the Assembly and council on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in the backdrop of the AP government announcing an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the Himachal victims, the Telangana government is under pressure to come out with a similar scheme. Sources in the government said chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao would decide on the ex gratia after receiving a report on the tragedy by the team led by home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy. The team is likely to return from Himachal Pradesh to Hyderabad on Friday.
In the meantime, House will take up the election of the deputy speaker when the Assembly is convened on Thursday. Speaker S Madhusudanachari is likely to announce the election of Padma Devender Reddy since the TRS Medak legislator is the only nominee in the fray. Padma, 45, is a law graduate from Osmania University. A second-time MLA, she joined active politics as a TRS member in 2001 and won from Ramayanpet assembly segment in 2004. She was defeated by Mynampalli Hanumatha Rao of the TDP in 2009 when she contested as an independent from the Medak assembly seat. This time she won the seat as Mynamapalli contested for the Lok Sabha from Malkajgiri on a TRS ticket.
"It is a great privilege to be the deputy speaker of the first Assembly of Telangana. We have a responsibility to conduct the House so there is no waste of time and public money. I hope we will succeed in it," Padma told TOI.
Following the deputy speaker's election, the House will take up the debate on the motion of vote thanks to the governor's speech, during which the opposition parties are likely to take on the government over issues like farm loan waiver, farmers' suicide and Polavaram. KCR is slated to reply to the debate on Friday.