Finance Bill Passed In Assembly

The Finance Bill was passed in the state Assembly on Tuesday, even as the opposition insisted on having a discussion on the controversial allotments of land in SEZs to the business associates of former Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

For over an hour, both the opposition and the treasury benches were locked in heated arguments over the issue of the discussion on the controversial land allocations as the main opposition, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), was very firm on having the land allocation discussion before the passage of the Finance Bill.

The government favoured taking up the said discussion after the Finance Bill was passed, while the main opposition was firm on having the debate first.

The MIM members also insisted on having an assurance from the Chair that the much-sought-after JLC probe would be executed. With the entire opposition not agreeing to Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy's proposal, the disagreement continued.

Ramnarayan Reddy appealed to the members not to delay the cited bill, as it was to be sent to the Legislative Council later. Deputy Speaker Nadendla Manohar also expressed the need to take up the Finance Bill on priority, but the opposition did not relent.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and Leader Of The Opposition, N Chandrababu Naidu, demanded that the 'land' discussion be prioritized. He also pointed out that the violent scenes during the Governor's address should be telecasted.

"The TDP compromised on yesterday's incident, keeping the government's predicament in view," Naidu added.

The Finance Minister informed that the debate on land allocations could go on for any length of time after the formality of passing the Finance Bill was completed.

Intervening in the discussion, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy asked the opposition to facilitate the passage of the bill first, and said that the delay would not benefit anyone.

The debate on the irregular land allocations could be taken up later, he said.

Later, the Finance Minister introduced the bill amidst protests from the opposition, and got it passed without a formal discussion on the subject.

Legislators loyal to former Kadapa MP, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, demanded that a discussion be allowed on the controversial businessman Hasan Ali's disclosures.

The Deputy Speaker sought their cooperation, and assured that the discussion will be taken up soon.

The TDP members staged a demonstration at the Deputy Speaker's chamber, and protested against frequent adjournments of the session. They demanded that the Assembly sessions be extended for another week to enable the legislators to discuss people's problems.