VIJAYAWADA: Pandemonium and suspension of Telugu Desam MLAs continued in the AP Assembly on the third consecutive day on Friday due to the TD MLAs' protest.
The TD members at one stage climbed onto the podium, demanding a mic facility and more time to speak. Speaker Tammineni Sitaram said he allotted time slots based on the strength of each party. TD legislators alleged bias on his part and created a furore. Following this, the speaker suspended the TD members from assembly for a day.
During the general discussion on the annual financial statement, TD MLA Yeluri Sambasiva Rao exceeded the time allocated to them. Sambasiva Rao alleged that the finance minister reeled out lies in the budget, vis-à-vis the state’s finances and development. AP stood top in the matter of borrowings to keep the state economy up, compared to other states, he said.
He said Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy is on top in “assets” but the state’s financial position has deteriorated due to the “inefficiency” of the government.
To this, the ruling party MLAs raised objections. They recalled that as per an estimate, TD chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu is the “richest Opposition leader.” They severely objected to personal abuse, which led to heated arguments.
Speaker Sitaram instructed Sambasiva to conclude his speech, reminding him that only 17 minutes were allotted to TD, which had been exhausted already. But he continued the speech for 24 minutes. Speaker Sitaram cut the mic and gave a chance to Kona Raghupati. Angry over the cutting of the mic, TD legislators shouted slogans, saying “We Want mic” and repeatedly disrupted the house and further rushed to the well.
Rajendranath said YSRC has no objection if the speaker gave more time to the TD after the completion of Raghupati’s speech. The proposal was rejected by TD legislators and they climbed the Speaker's podium, shouting slogans and demanding that they be given 70 minutes to speak.
Speaker Sitaram said 120 minutes was allocated for the general discussion on the annual financial statements, that included 100 minutes to the treasury bench, 17 minutes to the opposition TD and three minutes to the JS member. He assured TD it would be given more time after completion of the ongoing speech, but the Opposition was not ready to oblige.
TD MLAs claimed that 70 minutes’ time was given to them but their mic was cut too soon. Speaker Sitaram said this was not correct. He gave them only 17 minutes, not 70 minutes.
The house proceedings were stalled due to the protests of TD MLAs. Hence, the ruling side led by finance minister Rajendranath proposed suspensions. The treasury benches proposed and passed a motion to suspend TD legislators and the Speaker promptly suspended 10 TD MLAs.
The suspended MLAs were K. Atchannaidu, Nimmakayala Chinnarajappa, Yeluri Sambasiva, Gadde Rammohan, Bendalam Ashok, Velagapudi Ramakrishna, Dolabala Veeranjaneya Swamy, Adireddy Bhavani, PVGR Naidu and Mantena Ramaraju.
The suspended TD MLAs continued their protest without leaving the Assembly. Marshals came in and took them out of the House.
