TRS to move privilege motion in LS against central minister

Hyderabad, March 23: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Wednesday gave a notice for moving a privilege motion in the Lok Sabha against union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu for misleading the House while answering a question on Telangana's proposal for increasing the quantum of reservation to Scheduled Tribes (STs).

The TRS MPs submitted a notice to Speaker Om Birla saying they desire to move a Privilege Motion under rule 222 against the minister for misleading the House in his answer to the question raised on March 21 pertaining to Telangana's proposal for increasing the quantum of reservation to ST groups.

The minister in his answer denied that there was any proposal by Telangana on the issue of reservation to STs. "The Telangana Government not only made a proposal for increase of reservations but passed a Bill No-6 of 2017 (sec 4(2) increasing the reservations to STs from 6.8 per cent to 10 per cent and sent it to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs," reads the notice signed by nine Lok Sabha members of TRS.

The MPs also pointed out that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in fact gave its consent through a letter dated December 18, 2017 on the issue of increase of reservations to STs. They said the minister's answer amounted to breach of privileges of the members.

TRS Parliamentary Party leader K. Keshava Rao told reporters in Delhi that the minister deliberately misled the house by uttering a lie. "There is not only a proposal but a Bill passed by the State Legislature. The ministry of home affairs had also given its consent," he said. TRS Lok Sabha member N. Nageswara Rao said this reflects the bias the Centre has towards Telangana.