VIJAYAWADA: The AP Legislative Council witnessed uproarious scenes as members from the ruling YSR Congress and the opposition Telugu Desam engaged in a war of words on Monday.
As council chairman Koyye Moshenuraju started the third day of the council’s sitting with the Question Hour, health minister Vidadala Rajini stood up with her answer. TD legislator Deepak Reddy got up to say the health minister was a “plant raised by Chandrababu Naidu that has grown up to become a minister, and extended his good wishes to her.
The minister, in turn, slammed the opposition TD members for engaging in an “attention-diversion game” in the house. She started explaining how the YSR Congress government had been initiating a series of reforms in the healthcare system while the previous TD government did “too little.”
The health minister dwelt at length on how the YSRC government was trying to provide 104 Services in a “better way” for the benefit of patients in the villages, compared to the TD time.
Her critical remarks angered the Opposition. Members from both sides started blaming each other and YSRC member Duvvada Srinivas started shouting and gesticulating to the opposition side.
TD members raised the word ‘A2’ in an oblique reference to Vijayasai Reddy being Accused 2 in the CM Jagan Reddy’s disproportionate assets case. The opposition alleged that some agencies linked to Vijayasai were being provided with big contract works of the government.
YSR Congress members raised their objection to such talk while the YSR Congressmember Duvvada Srinivas again became uncontrollable in his utterances. Water resources minister Ambati Rambabu called TD chief Chandrababu Naidu a “plant sown by former prime minister Indira Gandhi” and flayed him for “backstabbing” his father-in-law and late chief minister N.T. Rama Rao. Amid the ruckus, chairman Moshenu Raju had difficulty bringing the house back to order.
As the opposition TD members started targeting the health minister, minister for housing Jogi Ramesh came to her rescue by trying to explain about the health issues. However, TD member N.M.D. Farooq raised an objection to the intervention by the housing minister when the health minister was supposed to give the reply to their queries. Did this mean the health minister was inefficient, he asked. This enraged the YSRC members again.
The health minister gave a strong retort to the TD members by finding fault with the previous TD government for taking up programmes like Domalapi Dandayatra and Domalapi Drone Yatra but failing to control viral fever spread in AP.
