After an impasse of 4 days, the AP Legislative Assembly finally began the debate on the AP State Reorganisation Bill 2013.
After an impasse of 4 days, and two adjournments during the day, the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday began the debate on the AP State Reorganisation Bill 2013.
Speaker Nadendla Manohar adjourned the House on two occasions on Wednesday, following uproars created by legislators from the Seemandhra region. As soon as the House met at 9am today, TDP MLAs from the Seemandhra region trooped into the well, while Congress MLAs resorted to slogan-shouting. A few moments later, the YSRCP MLAs too rushed to the podium.
Deputy Chief Minsiter Damodar Rajanarasimha, ministers K Jana Reddy and S Sailajanath, and government chief whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy were seen standing near their seats. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy too entered the House while the Seemandhra MLAs were stalling the proceedings.
Meanwhile, the Speaker rejected the adjournment motions moved by TDP's Hari Prasad and YSRCP's Vijaya Lakshmi, who sought a resolution on united Andhra Pradesh, and another one moved by CPI's G Mallesh seekign compensation for the victims of the Mahabubnagar bus fire accident.
Following an uproar, the Speaker adjourned the House for one hour. However, similar conditions prevailed when the House re-assembled at about 11:06am, and within 2-3 minutes, the Speaker again adjourned it for one hour.
Situation changed a bit when the House re-assembled at about 1:27pm. Amid slogan-shouting by Congress, YSRCP and TDP members, the Speaker asked Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy to make a statement.
The Finance Minister informed the House that TDP members had sought some clarifications on the Telangana Bill during the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee. He said that the government was in receipt of clarifications through the Speaker, and that they would be conveyed to the TDP in a day or two. He appealed to the members to participate in the debate. Following this announcement, the TDP MLAs returned to their seats.
The Speaker then asked minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar to speak on the Telangana Bill. Stating that he strongly opposes the Bill, Vatti said that the legislation needs to be debated thoroughly. He said there were several glitches in the Bill, and that it should be debated and put to voting clause-by-clause. He hoped that the debate would put at an end to uncertainty.
While the minister was speaking on the Bill, YSRCP members were seen throwing papers at the Speaker's podium. The Speaker then adjourned the House for the day at about 1:35pm. (INN)