Telangana Legislative Assembly and Council have, on Tuesday, issued a customary notification of Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan summoning the two Houses for the Budget session at 12:10 pm on 3 February.
Yesterday, after the state government and governor’s counsels reached an understanding after the Telangana High Court suggested discussion between the two sides. State Legislative Minister V Prasanth Reddy and finance secretary were called on the governor at Raj Bhavan, and thereby set the ball rolling.
The notification of the governor summoning the Assembly and Legislative Council too is dated yesterday. The governor has also approved the state Budget which is expected to be placed before the Assembly and Legislative Council on 6 February.
Dr. Soundararajan will now address a joint sitting of the Legislative Assembly and Council on 3 February. There will be a two-day break in between with Chief Minister K Chandra Shekhar Rao and most of the BRS MLAs being away in Nanded, Maharashtra on 5 February for the party’s first-ever rally outside the state of Telangana.
The state government had moved the court bringing in a lunch motion petition to get the Budget approved by the governor, but the matter was resolved amicably by the two sides and the petition was dismissed.
Although both the sides have shown signs of rapprochement after yesterday’s events, it remains to be seen if the governor will give her assent or return all the eight Bills pending with her. The Bills had been sent to her in September and were one of the key reasons for the row between Raj Bhavan and the state government.
Last year, there was no governor’s address at the commencement of Budget session as the BRS had said that the Assembly had not been prorogued after the earlier session and merely adjourned. The governor had reacted bitterly after she was denied the opportunity to address the Assembly and Council.