The return of Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLAs to the House, the activism of the usually silent MIM MLAs, and the Telugu Desam Party's insistence on the dismissal of tainted ministers - all of these paralysed the functioning of the state Legislative Assembly on Monday.
As soon as the House met on Monday, the TRS members moved an adjournment, seeking a discussion on the non-implementation of the promises that the state government has made with Telangana employees to end the Sakala Janula Samme.
CPI MLA G Mallesh, the CPM's J Ranga Reddy, the BJP's E Lakshmi Narayana and the TDP's Uma Madhava Reddy, too, gave adjournment motions on different issues. However, Speaker Nadendla Manohar rejected all the motions.
Meanwhile, the TDP members rushed to the Speaker's podium, raising slogans demanding the dismissal of ministers who were
served notices by the Supreme Court in connection with Y S Jagan's disproportionate assets. Following the uproar in the House, the Speaker adjourned the House for half-an-hour.
However, when the House met again at about 11:08am, the TRS members surrounded the Speaker's podium over the issue of non-implementation of promises made with Telangana employees.
The TDP members, too, raised slogans from their seats over the matter of tainted ministers.
MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi raised an objection to the frequent adjournment of the House, and said that the House was being adjourned for 2 hours instead of a mere 15 minutes or half-an-hour.
Intervening, Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu accused the Opposition parties of wasting time. He said that several important issues, including the energy situation and problems of farmers, could not be discussed in the House due to the non-cooperation of the opposition parties.
Countering his claim, TDP MLA P Keshava said that all parties were in favour of discussions on public issues, but that the government's reluctance to discuss the issue of tainted ministers and controversial GOs has been leading to the disruption of proceedings.
Later, Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka agreed to a discussion on the subject of tainted ministers, and allotted 15 minutes to the TDP and 5 minutes each to TRS, CPI, CPM and MIM.
However, TRS floor leader Etela Rajender insisted that the House first discuss the issue of Telangana employees. He accused the government of going back on its promises of withdrawing cases registered against the students who had participated in the Telangana statehood agitation.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy replied that the promises made to Telangana employees could not be fulfilled due to legal hurdles. However, he said the government received legal clearances on 15 March, and that the relevant files were under process.
However, Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu said that if the Chief Minister wants, all promises could be fulfilled in just one day. Expressing doubts over the government's seriousness in this issue, he demanded that the government resolve the issue in a time-bound manner.
Responding to Naidu's demand, the Chief Minister assured that all cases against the Telangana students would be withdrawn soon.
Meanwhile, MIM's Akbaruddin Owaisi objected to the silence adopted by all parties with regard to the cases booked against Muslim youth. He said that while all parties have been speaking about the cases against Telangana students, "all parties have remained mute spectators to the harassment being faced by Muslim youth for the crimes that they did not commit".
He alleged that the police have been opening history sheets of Muslim youth, based only on suspicion. He said that despite the CM's assurance in the House about a year ago, no cases have been withdrawn.
Responding to the allegations, Home Minister P Sabitha Indira Reddy said that the issue would be resolved soon, and that a meeting in this regard has already been convened.
BJP's G Kishan Reddy said that the several Hindus and Muslims were being victimised by the city police in connection with communal cases registered against them. The Left parties, too, demanded that the government resolve the issue immediately. Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu then assured the House that the issue would be resolved soon.
Later, Chandrababu Naidu initiated a debate on ministers named in Jagan's case, and alleged that they were involved in a scam of over Rs. 1 lakh crore. However, before he could complete his speech, Akbaruddin Owaisi intervened and demanded that several scams have surfaced in the state, and that the House should have a detailed discussion on all the cases. His remarks led to a furore in the House, which consequently led the Deputy Speaker to adjourn the House for the day. (INN)