Pandemonium in AP as TDP demands discussion on onions

On the first day of its winter session on Monday, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was pushed into pandemonium as the opposition Telugu Desam members stood on protest demanding that an immediate discussion be taken up on the spiraling price of onion.

The ruling YSR Congress brought in a short discussion on women's safety, but Home Minister M Sucharita could not complete reading out her statement on the subject due to the din caused by the TDP members.

The intervention of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who told the House that the onion price issue too would be discussed later in a proper form, ensured order.

As opposition MLAs stormed the Speaker's podium, insisting on an immediate debate on the onion price, women MLAs of YSRC also came into the Well, deploring the TDP's attitude. Speaker Thammineni Seetaram chided the TDP members as his repeated pleas to them to return to their seats yielded no result.

Amid the din, the YSRC members took up discussion on women's safety and targeted Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu, alleging that atrocities on women grew in the state under his regime between 2014 and (May) 2019. "Chandrababu does not understand the pain of a girl or a woman as he is not the father of a daughter," YSRC MLAs Vidadala Rajani, R K Roja and others lashed out.