Akbaruddin Owaisi was appointed because former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who is the senior-most Assembly member, was unavailable.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs in Telangana on Saturday boycotted the oath ceremony for the new legislators in the Legislative Assembly to protest All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi being appointed the pro-tem Speaker, The Hindu reported.
The pro-tem speaker is the legislator who presides over the first sitting of the reconstituted Assembly, administers the oath of office to newly elected MLAs and conducts the floor test. The post of the pro-tem Speaker becomes vacant when the Assembly elects a new Speaker.
As per the convention, a senior MLA is usually made the pro-tem Speaker. However, former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who is the senior-most MLA in the House, is in the hospital for a hip replacement surgery.
