10 TDP MLAs Suspended For A Week From T-Assembly

10 MLAs of the Telugu Desam Party were suspended from the Telangana Legislative Assembly for a week for continuously disrupting the proceedings of the House.

Trouble began when TDP MLA A Revanth Reddy rose to speak on the State budget. However, the TRS MLAs began a protest asking him to first tender an apology for the remarks that he made against Nizamabad MP K Kavitha.

Refusing to apologise, Revanth Reddy accused the treasury bench members of trying to suppress his voice. He reiterated that Kavitha had enrolled her name at two places during the Intensive Household Survey.

Legislative Affairs Minister T Harish Rao denied Revanth Reddy's allegations, and said that the TDP MLA should apologise before speaking on the budget. He described the issue as a matter of the honour of a woman MP.

This triggered strong protests from the TDP MLAs, leading to an uproar in the House, which forced Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary to adjourn the House for 10 minutes.

When the House resumed, TRS MLA Konda Surekha reiterated the demand that Revanth Reddy should apologise. Else, the TRS MLAs would not allow him to speak on the budget, she thundered. She accused Reddy of being adamant on the issue.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao too then joined in the demand, and asked the TDP MLA to apologise for his remarks.

When the Speaker then asked A Ravinder Reddy of the TRS to speak on budget, the TDP MLAs rushed to the podium demanding that Revanth Reddy be given the opportunity to speak on the budget first. They raised slogans against the government, and did not resume their seats despite several requests from the Speaker.

Consequently, the Legislative Affairs Minister moved a resolution for the suspension of 8 TDP MLAs from the House for a week, which was approved by a voice vote. The Speaker then announced the suspension of Gopinath, Manchireddy Kishan Reddy, S Venkat Veeraiah, A Gandhi, Prakash Goud, Rajender Reddy, Vivekananda and G Sainna. They were physically lifted away from the House by the marshals.

In the meantime, Revanth Reddy and Errabelli Dayakar Rao entered the House and began to protest near the podium. They too were suspended from the House for one week.

The suspended TDP MLAs were later arrested by the Hyderabad Police when they staged a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Assembly premises. (INN)