Demonetisation: Congress stages walkout of Telangana Assembly

Hyderabad, Nov 8: After their request of their adjournment motion seeking discussion on the "adverse impact" of demonetisation on the state's economy was rejected, the Congress members on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Telangana Assembly.

As soon as Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary rejected the motion after the Question Hour, the Congress members stood up and started demanding the chair to take up the issue. However, when their adjournment motion on the issue of demonetisation was not allowed, the Congress members staged a walkout from the House.

"The faulty implementation of the GST and the adverse impact of note ban impacted crores of people. We staged a walkout protesting the Speaker's decision not to allow our adjournment motion," Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Uttam Kumar Reddy told reporters in the Assembly premises after the walkout.

On November 8 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes as a measure to fight blackmoney, corruption, fake currency and terror funding. The BJP earlier announced that it will mark the first anniversary of demonetisation as 'anti-black money day', setting up a political tug of war with opposition parties which have planned to observe it as a "black day".

Later, during a short discussion on 'minority welfare' in the Assembly, MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi lauded the ruling TRS's efforts in this regard. Hitting out at the Congress, Owaisi said Chief Minister Rao initiated several measures for the welfare of minorities which the opposition party did not take when it was in power during the past 60 years.

"Insha Allah (God permits) you (Congress) will meet the same fate in the 2019 general elections as you met in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections," he said.

Notably, the TRS won majority of the seats in the civic body elections last year. The MIM leader demanded that the state government appoint a separate commissioner and director for Urdu schools for better focus and uplift of the language.

He also alleged that over 57,000 acres of land belonging to Waqf Board has been encroached, and requested the chief minister to take necessary steps to get it back. Owaisi welcomed the government's move to seal the office of Telangana State Waqf Board last night following the chief minister's order.

PTI