Hyderabad: The AP Assembly was adjourned for Monday amid protests by Opposition YSRC members demanding the revocation of the one-year suspension of Ms R.K. Roja from the House. Legislative affairs minister Yanamala Ramakris-hnudu categorically said was no question of revoking her suspension.
Immediately after the House began on Satur-day, Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao announced that the adjournment motion given by BJP member P Vishnu Kumar Raju on the call money scam had been rejected.
Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the Speaker had no power to suspend an MLA for one year from the House. Quoting Assembly Rule 340, he said the Speaker could suspend a member from the House only for the rest of the session. Given this, the Speaker should revoke the suspension, he said.
Mr Ramakrishnudu said neither the Speaker nor the government had suspended Ms Roja, she had been suspended by the House. The Assembly has supreme powers and no one, even the court, can question its powers. Mr Ramakrishnudu said that the House had the right to override the Assembly rules and that it had residuary powers.
To this, Mr Reddy said that the House has residuary powers only when there are no rules, but in this case Rule 340 applied. He said the House was governed by rules.
Recalling a past incident, Mr Ramakrishna told Mr Reddy that when his father, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was Chief Minister of undivided AP, the Assembly suspended TD member Karanam Balaram for six months. If the House had no powers, how was Mr Balaram suspended for six months, the minister asked.
The Speaker said that Ms Roja had not apologised for her remarks even though she had got enough time after the announcement of her suspension. If she had tendered an apology, things would not have reached this stage, he said.
Roja detained at Assembly, faints
YSRC MLA Roja sustained minor injuries after being roughed up by cops while she was trying to enter the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Saturday. The MLA fainted for a brief period due to high blood pressure when police tried to detain her. She was initially taken to the Nampally police station and later shifted to NIMS hospital. Roja, who was suspended for a year by the Speaker, tried to enter the Asse-mbly premises despite the marshals stopping her.
Senior police officials said the police tried to detain her under preventive laws. However, she fainted in the process. Roja later alleged that that she was going to her party office located on the premises of the AP Assembly, but police denied her permission to enter.
A war of words between security officials and the MLA occurred before the arrest. YSRCP leader Jagan Mohan Reddy questioned police high handedness and said the MLA was already sick and cops ignored her poor health.
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.
