Sibal criticises BJP for boycotting Telangana MLAs’ oath-taking presided over by pro-tem speaker

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal criticised the BJP on Sunday after its MLAs skipped Telangana's newly elected legislators' oath-taking ceremony over AIMIM's Akbaruddin Owaisi's appointment as pro-tem speaker, stating that such "public expression of hate" makes him question the direction the nation is going.

The newly elected MLAs took an oath of office on Saturday, marking the start of the first session of the third Telangana Legislative Assembly.

Before the commencement of the Telangana Assembly session, Owaisi was administered the oath by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan as the pro-tem speaker at the Raj Bhavan and he presided over the proceedings in the House.

Union Minister and the BJP’s Telangana unit chief G Kishan Reddy has alleged that Owaisi was appointed as a pro-tem speaker though there were other senior members in the House.

With PTI inputs