Hyderabad (Telangana): Expressing displeasure over the commencement of the Telangana Budget session without the Governor's address, state governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said the members now "stand to lose out" on the report card of government programmes. Soundararajan said that the state government had arranged the budget meeting without the governor's speech which was supposed to be as per tradition.
""The Governor’s address is an important instrument in upholding the democratic principles of making the government responsible to the elected members. The Governor’s role is limited to being a catalyst to the democratic ideals enshrined in our Constitution. By not holding the Governor’s address in this budget session, the members now stand to lose out on the opportunity to discuss the previous year performance of the government," Soundararajan said in a statement. The government, however, stated that the governor's speech was not possible due to technical issues as it was not a new session.
"The House is meeting after a period of five months. Under normal circumstances, when the House is convened after such a long interval, the House is convened for a new session. Despite the long hiatus, the government decided to continue the previous session, cancelling the governor's address which was supposed to be traditional for technical reasons," the governor added.
She clarified that the Raj Bhavan was not making the governor's speech, it was a government statement and a report card on government programmes, achievements for the past year, and policy indicators for the coming year. The governor said there was a possibility of a meaningful debate in the House based on the issues mentioned in the speech.
Soundararajan recalled that the government had said when seeking her permission to introduce the finance bill that the meetings would begin with the governor's address. "In the next explanation, the government stated that unfortunately, the address could not take place," she said. The opposition BJP and Congress, earlier this week, attacked the TRS government for not scheduling the customary Governor's address to the Budget session which begins on Monday.
Taking exception to comments by BJP leaders, state Legislative Affairs Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said the Governor's address is not taking place as the Budget Session is a continuation of the previous session which had not been prorogued. Citing constitutional provisions, he said the Governor is supposed to address the Legislature when a new session takes place in a calendar year. There have been instances in the past when the Governor's address did not feature in the session, he said.
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