HYDERABAD: BRS MLA and former Legislative Affairs Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy criticized the Assembly Speaker’s office for allegedly not adhering to rules in appointing the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman and called for a reconsideration of the decision.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Prashanth Reddy noted that the new PAC chairman's name should have been announced in the House. However, the Assembly Secretary only revealed the names of the committee chairpersons 38 days after the Assembly session concluded.
Prashanth Reddy raised concerns about the appointment of a defected MLA as PAC chairman. “The PAC chairman should be elected, not selected,” he emphasized.
He recalled that the election schedule for the PAC chairman was announced on the last day of the recent Assembly session, with only two hours allocated for filing and withdrawing nominations. The rushed process, he said, was problematic.
“Three BRS MLAs had filed their nominations for the PAC chairman position. However, the appointment of defected MLA Arekapudi Gandhi was unexpected,” he said, questioning how Gandhi's nomination was processed without an election.
Prashanth Reddy also queried why the Speaker’s office removed Harish Rao’s name from the nominations without conducting an election. He questioned the legitimacy of Gandhi’s nomination, given his recent switch to Congress, which was widely reported and not denied by Gandhi himself. A disqualification petition against Gandhi is reportedly pending with the Speaker.
He further pointed out that this is possibly the first instance in the country where the PAC chairman's position was not allocated to the Opposition. Historically, even when the Congress was not the official Opposition, the PAC chairman's position was given to them during Narendra Modi’s government. Similarly, Congress leader KC Venugopal was appointed PAC chairman in the current Lok Sabha, he noted.