15 YSR Congress MLAs suspended for stalling debate on Telangana Bill

Hyderabad: Fifteen MLAs of YSR Congress were suspended from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for a day and forcibly evicted from the House as they constantly disrupted the proceedings in the House which was to debate the crucial draft AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 on Thursday.

Even after two adjournments, the YSRC members continued to remain in the Well of the House following which Speaker Nadendla Manohar asked legislative affairs minister S Sailajanath to move a motion for suspending the unruly YSRC legislators.

Read on: Parliament has 10 days to clear Telangana

The motion was then carried through voice vote following which marshals forcibly evicted the 15 suspended members, including two women legislators. Earlier, the YSRC took a stubborn stand that the House first take up a vote on state bifurcation issue before debating the draft AP Reorganisation Bill.

The House had to be adjourned twice this morning as the YSRC members did not budge even after the Speaker allowed their floor leader Y.S. Vijayamma to express her view on the issue. The House was adjourned for half-an-hour the first time within five minutes after the day's proceedings began.

The Speaker then held talks with the YSRC MLAs to end the impasse. When the proceedings started two hours after the first break, Y.S. Vijaya spoke, demanding that the House first take up voting on the bifurcation issue before debating the draft Bill.

"We have been repeatedly seeking a resolution by the House against the bifurcation. We even petitioned the President on this," she pointed out. "We are not against the debate nor will we block it. We are clearly against the bifurcation of the state. If we don't talk, we are being targeted that we are favouring the division," the YSRC leader said. 

Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, however, said voting could not be taken up first before expressing the House's views on bifurcation.

"It's not proper to demand voting ahead of the debate. The ox should always be before the cart. Only then will a ride be possible," he remarked.

All members, irrespective of their political affiliations, were eager to express their views on the draft Bill as per their regional aspirations. The YSRC should also participate in the debate, Anam said. How the views expressed by members would be recorded was the Speaker's discretion, the minister pointed out.

The Speaker said all these issues were discussed in the Business Advisory Committee twice.

"We have tried to clear all doubts regarding the draft Bill. We have examined the procedures followed in other legislatures (UP and Bihar) when those states were divided," Manohar said.

Not debating the draft Bill was not good, he said and urged members to respect the decisions taken at BAC meeting.

Telugu Desam Party MLA Payyavula Keshav appealed to the YSRC to join hands to defeat the draft Bill. At that point, the YSRC members again trooped into the Well of the House, leading to adjournment of the proceedings for another half an hour.