AP Speaker suspends four TDP MLAs for a day

Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Tammineni Seetharam suspended four Telugu Desam Party legislators for a day on Thursday after they refused to allow the House to take up regular business.

The TDP is protesting the manner in which Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy entered into an agreement with his counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana to link Godavari with Krishna River.

The suspended MLAs are Bendalam Ashok, Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu and Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy. Last week three TDP deputy floor leaders were suspended for the rest of the session.

A commotion erupted after the TDP MLAs started raising slogans protesting the river water sharing agreement. They alleged that AP will lose out if it agreed to build a 400-km canal through the heartland of Telangana to bring Godavari water to Srisailam.

“Today You (Jaganmohan Reddy) and KCR may be good friends but the decisions have to be taken by keeping the future generations in mind. Look what is happening now between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka where even the Supreme Court’s directions were not implemented while sharing the water,” Nara Chandrababu Naidu said advising the chief minister to consult the opposition before taking such major decisions.

However, the chief minister argued that only 12% of Godavari water is entering the state. “KCR is generous enough to share the Godavari water with us. We can use it to irrigate vast tracts of Rayalaseema and Prakasam regions,” Jagan said.

Meanwhile, the TDP members staged a walkout for the third consecutive day after the speaker refused permission to raise the issue of handing over of AP assets to Telangana in Hyderabad.