The monsoon session of Andhra Pradesh (AP) Legislative Assembly began on a stormy note on Thursday as the TDP MLAs staged a protest inside the House against the arrest of N. Chandrababu Naidu in skill development scam case. They demanded that the cases foisted on Mr. Naidu should be withdrawn.
Utter chaos prevailed as the TDP MLAs surrounded the Speaker Thammineni Seetharam on his podium soon after the question hour commenced, and raised slogans against the alleged implication of Mr. Naidu in false cases.
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Holding placards, the opposition MLAs hurled pieces of paper towards the Speaker, who shouted against them, saying that it was a forum to discuss public issues and the MLAs could not hold the House to ransom by their unruly conduct.
TDP State president and Tekkali MLA K. Atchannaidu stood in the well of the House along with another MLA.
Question Hour disrupted
As the TDP MLAs, including YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) rebel MLA Vundavalli Sridevi (Tadikonda), did not pay heed to the Speaker’s caution against disrupting the question hour, Minister for Finance and Legislative Affairs Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said they moved an adjournment motion for a discussion on the issue but they have to present it in a proper format in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.
He said the government was willing to deliberate on Mr. Naidu’s arrest and it was prepared to give as much time as the TDP MLAs might want, but to no avail as they refused to budge.
Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu then got up and warned that if the TDP MLAs continued to provoke the ruling party MLAs, there was a danger of untoward incidents happening.
A verbal duel ensued between Mr. Rambabu and TDP MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna (Hindupur) when the latter yelled and purportedly dared the Minister for a debate, by insisting that Mr. Chandrababu Naidu was sent to prison as part of a conspiracy hatched by the ruling party.
Mr. Seetharam adjourned the proceedings for a short period as normalcy could not be restored. The TDP MLAs’ suspension looks imminent as they have already made clear their intention to press for ‘justice to Mr. Chandrababu Naidu’ with the assertion that he is innocent.
