The monsoon session of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly began on a stormy note on Thursday as Telugu Desam Party MLAs staged a protest inside the House against the arrest of their party president N. Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development scam case. They demanded that the cases foisted on Mr. Naidu should be withdrawn.
Utter chaos prevailed as the TDP MLAs surrounded 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”.
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 that 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.
The TDP MLAs, including YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) rebel MLAs Vundavalli Sridevi (Tadikonda) and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy (Nellore Rural) did not pay heed to the Speaker’s caution against disrupting the Question Hour.
Minister for Finance and Legislative Affairs Buggana Rajendranath Reddy (MLA, Dhone constituency) said an adjournment motion had been moved for a discussion on the issue but it could be taken up only with the assent of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting, that too if it was presented in a proper format.
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 the MLAs refused to budge.
Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu (MLA, Sattenapalli) 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 in the House. He said the YSRCP MLAs would be forced to retaliate if the TDP MLAs created further trouble.
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. Naidu was sent to prison as part of a conspiracy hatched by the ruling party.
Then the Speaker Mr. Seetharam adjourned the proceedings for a short period as normalcy could not be restored. The situation remained chaotic even after the session resumed, as the TDP MLAs’ were bent on pushing forward their agenda, which was to press for justice to Mr. Naidu.
The Speaker finally suspended TDP MLAs Payyavula Keshav and A. Satya Prasad and YSRCP’s Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy for the entire monsoon session on grounds of misbehavior and damaging the House property during their protest, and referred the matter to the Ethics Committee for necessary action.
The Speaker suspended the remaining TDP MLAs and Vundavalli Sridevi for the day for throwing the legislative business out of gear.
Besides, he issued a warning to TDP MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna against repeating the mistake of twirling his moustache, saying it was unbecoming of the conduct of a member of the House. It was considered by the Speaker as Mr. Balakrishna’s ‘first mistake’.
The House was adjourned for tea break just when the ruling party and Opposition MLAs rushed towards each other menacingly and appeared to come to blows, even as marshals walked in to evict the suspended MLAs.
Five-day session
Meanwhile, the BAC decided to hold the sessions for five days. The meeting was chaired by the Assembly Speaker and attended among others by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Mr. Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and government chief whip Mudunuri Prasada Raju (MLA, Narasapuram).
The TDP abstained from the meeting, having decided to corner the government on the issue of Mr. Naidu and to not let the House to transact any other business.
