Cong members form security ring around Shinde

Sensing trouble from Seemandhra leaders, several young and able-bodied members on Tuesday formed a ring around Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde as he rose to pilot the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in the Lok Sabha.

Shinde, who is also the Leader of the House, was surrounded by Kantilal Bhuria, Sajjan Singh Verma, Manicka Tagore, Aaron Rashid, Mahabal Mishra, Ashok Tanwar and Hamadullah Sayeed.

The Congress left nothing to chance and Minister of State for Road Transport Sarvey Satyanarayana was seen occupying a seat reserved for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whenever the House was convened, shielding Shinde from any possible disruption. Interestingly, the prime minister was not present when the Telangana Bill was passed amid din.

Opposition leaders, including Asaduddin Owaisi and Anurag Thakur, took potshots at Congress members for taking over the role of House marshals. “How will you protect the nation, if you feel threatened in the House,” one member was heard as saying.
Owaisi, a member from Hyderabad, even offered to join the Congress members in shielding Shinde. Members of the CPM, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena and the Biju Janata Dal, besides some from the Congress, raised slogans against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi stood in front of Shinde, chanting slogans demanding a united Andhra Pradesh, while CPM members A Sampath and M B Rajesh were seen thrusting “Save Andhra Pradesh” placards in the face of the home minister, every time he rose to move amendments to the bill.

However, certain camaraderie among House members was also on display as Aaron Rashid and Chaudhary Lal Singh of the Congress were seen distributing lozenges to the members, who were protesting for nearly 90 minutes.