Hyderabad: Senior Congress MLAs Gade Venkata Reddy and J.C. Diwakar Reddy and MLC Paladugu Venkat Rao were among those who took the decision to give a notice to the Speaker to move a resolution for a united Andhra Pradesh. The notice was handed over to the Speaker in the evening.
Meanwhile, a meeting of Telangana Congress ministers and MLAs was held at the residence of government chief whip Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy where it was decided to pressurise the House to discuss the Telangana Bill in this session, assuming it is sent to the House before the session ends.
Speaking to the media later, the chief whip said that they won’t accept any resolution moved by Seemandhra MLAs to demand a united state.
Speaking to reporters separately, Diwakar Reddy and YSRC MLA Shobha Nagi Reddy said that they will seek the support of other parties for their resolution to keep the state united.
Telugu Desam MLAs from the Seemandhra region have been silent about these resolutions.
It will be interesting to see what stand Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu takes if the resolutions come before the House for discussion.
House witnesses protests
Hyderabad: The Winter Session of the AP Legislative Assembly began on Thursday with protests from Seemandhra members over the proposed bifurcation of the state.
As soon as the House commenced, Seemandhra members belonging to YSR Congress and Telugu Desam rushed to the podium raising ‘Jai Samaikyandhra’ slogans and demanded that a resolution be passed to keep the state united. TRS members countered with ‘Jail Telangana’ slogans.
The House was meeting after nearly six months, and this time it was Seemandhra members cutting across party lines who were in the forefront of the agitation, when earlier it was Telangana members who frequently disrupted House proceedings.
After repeated requests by the Speaker, Nadendla Manohar, the members took their seats to enable the House to pay tributes to the late Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, who passed away on December 5.
Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy described Nelson Mandela as the tallest peak in the history of mankind.
He said Nelson Mandela fought relentlessly against apartheid and always highlighted issues relating to human rights. He described Mandela as a great warrior who fought for the freedom and rights of his people, and made sacrifices to achieve these.
Leader of the opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu said Mandela showed the world that anything could be achieved through non-violence.
After several speakers expressed their views, the House paid homage to Mandela. The House also condoled the death of 30 former legislators.
The House was adjourned for the day after taking up the condolence motions.
