The Speaker represents the House. He/she represents the dignity of the House, the freedom of the House, and because the House represents the nation, in a particular way, the Speaker becomes symbol of the nation’s freedom and liberty. Therefore, that should be an honoured position. A free position and should be occupied always by persons of outstanding ability and impartiality“
Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister
The office of the Speaker occupies an important position in democracy, often looked upon as the true guardian of the traditions of parliamentary democracy. . The Speaker symbolises the dignity and power of the House over which he presides. Therefore, it is expected that the holder of this office of high dignity has to be one who can represent the House in all its manifestations. The Speaker’s position perhaps is next only to the President, the Vice-President and the Prime Minister. A Speaker should be the epitome of impartiality and enjoys a unique position. A Speaker much like a Governor is expected to keep off politics, expected to be unbiased in his political views and exercise restraint in his speech. Unfortunately, the high standards of ethics and impartiality attached to the Speaker’s office had been brought down by Andhra Pradesh Speaker Tamineni Sitaram to the lowest level. The AP Speaker threw the dignity of his position to the winds by using unparliamentary language against State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar casting casetist aspersions after the election commission postponed the civic body elections by six weeks citing the danger of corona virus and the widespread violence across the state. The Speaker, a constitutional authority, without exercising restraint slammed at the election commissioner, another constitutional authority, in the most undesirable words. “Nee Abba Jagir aa,” he fumed at the election commissioner. He further said people will thrash the election commissioner if he steps out on the streets, while stating that Ramesh Kumar’s decision to postpone the elections was undemocratic. “What does he think of himself? Probably, Ramesh Kumar thinks he is the chief minister of this state. The constitutional body is being managed by some individuals,” he lashed out. On the election commission’s decision to put off the elections in view of coronavirus scare, he said, “It was not due to corona virus. It is Kammona virus.”
Earlier, YSRCP president and chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy attributed casetist motives behind the postponement of elections saying Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar and former chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu belong to the same social group. Such comments coming from the Speaker and the Chief Minister is rather sad, a telling commentary on how politics have hit new low in Andhra Pradesh.
