AP House becomes battleground; YSRC MLAs uproot mikes, damage cameras

Hyderabad: The three-day Monsoon session of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly ended abruptly on Saturday after the opposition YSR Congress members created ruckus as they tried to uproot mikes and damage cameras over the special category status issue.

The House passed a resolution referring the unruly acts of the YSRC legislators in the last three days to the Privilege Committee for "necessary action".

Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao then adjourned the House sine die as it could not take up any listed business because of the pandemonium caused by the Opposition over the special status issue.

More than half-a-dozen YSRC legislators climbed the Legislature Secretary's table in front of the Speaker's podium and threw papers at the Speaker.

For the second day in a row, the YSRC members entered into a scuffle with the House marshals and tried to uproot mikes and damage the cameras recording the proceedings.

When the House was first adjourned briefly for 10 minutes around 9.20 am, the media point on the Assembly premises became a virtual battleground with the TDP and the YSRC MLAs coming close to blows.

The Opposition legislators continued with their protests inside the House when it resumed. As a result, five Bills that were supposed to be discussed and cleared, could not be taken up.

The Chief Minister was to make a statement in the House on the special financial package announced by the Centre while the Deputy Chief Minister (Home) was to make statement on the prevailing seasonal conditions in the state. That too did not happen as the Speaker adjourned the House sine die.

Yesterday also, the state Assembly abruptly ended without transacting any business after two adjournments failed to restore order in the House.