BJP legislators on Saturday demanded that the suspension of 10 TDP MLAs from the Telangana State Legislative Assembly for a week should be revoked.
Raising the issue in the House after the Question Hour, BJP floor leader Dr K Lakshman said that since 3 days had already passed, the suspension of the TDP MLAs for the remaining period should be revoked.
He said that it would be unfair to have discussions on the budget in the absence of a major Opposition Party in the House, as it would send a wrong message to the people.
However, Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy defended the suspension, and cited the example of Maharashtra where 5 Congress MLAs had been suspended for two years for misbehaviour.
He alleged that the TDP MLAs had been continuously disrupting the House when the TRS members sought an apology from Revanth Reddy for misleading the House.
Legislative Affairs Minister T Harish Rao also defended the suspension, and said that Revanth Reddy was given 3-4 opportunities to tender an apology, but the TDP MLAs stalled the proceedings of the House continuously.
He said that the government was indeed upset over the absence of the TDP MLAs during the debates on the budget. He claimed that for the time in the last one decade, the House had debated the budget for almost 18 hours, and the government wanted to continue the debate without any disruptions.
BJP MLA Kishan Reddy too demanded that the suspension be revoked. He alleged that there was no seriousness in the debate on the budget as the members of Treasury benches indulged in protests against an Opposition Party.
Congress deputy floor leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka ridiculed Harish Rao's claim on the budget discussions, and reminded that Harish Rao himself tore copies of the Governor's speech and broke mikes. TRS legislators had stalled the proceedings in earlier sessions during the Congress regime, he said, adding that Harish Rao had no moral right to speak on the MLAs' behaviour in the House. (INN)