CLP staff preparing queries on behalf of AP MLAs

HYDERABAD: A majority of Congress MLAs are not showing any interest in sending questions to the speaker for tabling during the question hour of the budget session of the Assembly, which is likely to begin on February 13.The MLAs, in accordance with their strength in the House, get an opportunity to send up to five questions per day to the speaker. As the budget session is expected to last for 30 working days, Congress MLAs can ask 150 questions.But the legislators are not showing any interest in the exercise in the absence of any clear political direction to them.When this was brought to their notice by the Assembly authorities, they told the CLP staff to come up with some questions that would not embarrass the government and they would sign on the dotted lines. As a result, the CLP staff are now neck deep in the work of preparing innocuous questions like ‘how many companies signed MoUs with the state during the recent CII Partnership Summit’ and ‘what would be the benefits that would accrue to the state if these companies set up their units.’ The CLP staff are filling up the forms and whenever the MLAs visit the Assembly, they obtain their signatures on the forms and sending them to the speaker’s office.“Very few MLAs are showing interest in sending questions to us. As if the work that we have is not enough, we have to search for questions for the MLAs, obtain their signatures and send them to the speaker’s office,” said a staff member.Asked why they were not showing interest, one Congress MLA said: “How can we have interest in Assembly proceedings? No one in the government is bothering about us. Cabinet expansion is kept on hold and they are not making appointments to nominated posts.” He also added: “What further use will our questions serve since they will be framed only to elicit information from the government.”