TDP disrupts AP House over liquor syndicate issue
The Telugu Desam Party on Monday intensified its attack on the ministers involved in the liquor syndicate scam in Andra Pradesh.
The party disrupted proceedings in the state assembly and had also met Governor ESL Narasimhan to personally request him to sack the ministers concerned and order a probe to find the real beneficiaries from the syndicate.
The opposition party picked up discussions on the scam from where it had left on Friday in the assembly, demanding to know the names of the ministers who had received kickbacks from the liquor syndicates and forced the house to be adjourned twice in the morning.
Telugu Desam MLAs, dissatisfied with the government’s response to the marathon discussion on the liquor syndicate, stormed the speaker’s podium immediately after the assembly began proceedings and reiterated their demands.
Besides asking for a probe into the scam, the party also insisted that the Anti-Corruption Bureau report to be tabled in the house.
Speaker Nadendla Manohar declared the issue closed, saying TDP members can raise the issue under a different subject since the house had discussed it for nearly nine hours on Friday. But despite requests from Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu to let the house carry on with its proceedings, TDP members continued their protests, leading to a half an hour adjournment in the first session.
Holding placards and raising slogans, the MLAs did not vacate the well of the house when it reconvened after 70 minutes.
The Speaker asked government Whip Dronamraju Srinivas to initiate discussions on the budget amidst the ruckus made by the opposition. But he was forced to announce adjournment for a further half an hour as the TDP members continued to raise their pitch.
Earlier, the opposition members, led by their leader N Chandrababu Naidu, entered the house after staging a protest at the Gun Park.
Meanwhile, Andra Pradesh High Court on Monday admitted a PIL asking for the names of the persons behind the liquor syndicate scam to be made public.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Sanjay Kumar, admitted the petition filed by lawyer Krishnaiah directing the state government and the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to disclose the names of ministers and politicians involved in the alleged liquor syndicate.
The bench adjourned the further hearing on the petition for two weeks.
