22 legislators suspended for two days for disrupting proceedings

Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar on Monday suspended 22 legislators belonging to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with two independent MLAs associated with them for two days for constantly disrupting proceedings of the House on the Telangana issue.

In all 17 legislators from the TRS, three from the BJP and one independent each associated with these parties were sent out of the Assembly after Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy moved a motion for suspension.

The speaker’s action came after the main opposition TDP alleged a tacit understanding between ruling party and the TRS to obstruct burning issues out of discussion, by deliberately adjourning the Assembly almost all the days.

The suspended members stayed put in the well of the House as soon as the proceedings began on Monday morning and demanded that the House adopt a resolution seeking statehood for Telangana region. The House was adjourned within minutes as the din continued and Speaker Nadendla Manohar called a meeting of floor leaders to break the deadlock. At the end of a three-hour long meeting, the House resumed but the TRS and BJP members continued to disrupt the proceedings.

Anam Ramanarayana Reddy appealed to the protesting members to let the House function as there was important business to be transacted in the next five days.
“There are 12 important Bills that have to be passed and we also need to discuss the reports submitted by the Departmentally-Related Standing Committees on the budget proposals. At the end of it we have to pass the Appropriation Bill. Hence, I request the opposition MLAs to let the House run smoothly,” Anam appealed.

His appeal, however, fell on deaf ears as the TRS and the BJP members raised slogans pressing with their demand. The speaker then asked the finance minister to move a motion for suspension of the agitating members.

 The motion was carried through voice vote and the 22 MLAs were suspended from the House for two days.

Marshals were called in to bodily lift the suspended members from the House as they refused to move out. CPI members staged a walkout protesting the police crackdown on Telangana activists during the “Chalo Assembly” programme on Friday last. The CPM, too, registered its protest on the issue.

 However, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy speaking in the Assembly said that the issue of creating a separate state “is almost 50 years old and not his creation. I request all political parties to discuss issues related to common man and leave the Telangana issue to the Centre.” After the suspension , the House proceedings began on a smooth note for the first time after Assembly resumed its sitting from June 10.