Telangana Debate Stalled In Assembly

The discussion on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill came to a halt in the state Legislative Assembly on Monday, with Telangana legislators, including some ministers, joining the protest asking Speaker Nadendla Manohar to reject the notice given by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to reject the Bill.

As soon as the House met at 9am on Monday, Congress MLAs from the Telangana region trooped into the well, shouting "Jai Telangana" slogans. While Telangana Congress MLAs were supported by TRS and BJP legislators, pro-Samaikyandhra legislators, led by YSR Congress Party MLAs, created an uproar in favour of a united state. The Speaker was forced to adjourn the House at about 9:04am for half-an-hour.

The protest by Telangana MLAs intensified when the House met again at about 11:15am. In an unprecedented development, state ministers including G Prasad Kumar, Sunitha Lakshma Reddy, Sudarshan Reddy and D Sridhar Babu, government chief whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy, whips Anil Kumar and Arepally Mohan and others, rushed to the Speaker's podium demanding the rejection of the notice given by the Chief Minister.

Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and Labour Minister D Nagender too joined the protest at their seats. Amidst shouts of "Jai Telangana" slogans, the House was again adjourned for half-an-hour at about 11:20am.

Normalcy could be restored in the House when it met again at about 1:20pm. The Speaker made several appeals, asking the protesting ministers and legislators to resume their seats. However, the legislators, who were divided into two groups, did not react to his appeals. The Speaker then adjourned the House for the day at about 1:29pm.

The protesting Telangana legislators contended that the Chief Minister had submitted the notice for rejection of the Bill unilaterally without a discussion in the cabinet.

It may be mentioned here that the CM gave a notice to the Speaker, seeking his permission to move a resolution in the House to reject the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013. (INN)