Stalemate in AP assembly, TD MLAs suspended on third consecutive day
VIJAYAWADA: Stalemate and suspensions continued in the AP Assembly as Opposition Telugu Desam restarted its protests by saying Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy misled the house in the issue of the Jangareddygudem deaths.
Speaker Tammineni Sitaram tried to restore normalcy but in vain. As the disturbances continued, he suspended 11 TD legislators for a day from the assembly.
The MLAs were Bendalam Ashok, Adireddy Bhavani, Nimmakayala Chinanajappa, Gana Babu, Bhogeswara Rao, Velagapudi Ramakrishna, Ramaraju, Gadde Rammohan, Gottipati Ravikumar, Eluru Sambasiva and Anagani Satyaprasad.
The seventh day of the budget session started with question hour and ministers were up with their answers. But TD MLAs were in no mood to listen. They raised a furore, saying the chief minister “misled the house by stating the Jangareddygudem hooch deaths were natural deaths.” They gave privilege notice against the CM in this connection.
They said while the police registered cases against illicit hooch manufacturers, Jagan stated that there was no possibility of anyone making hooch. “So, who was telling the truth,” they asked. They termed the Janagareddygudem deaths as “government’s murders” and held the YSRC government responsible for the deaths.
Finance minister Rajendranath Reddy objected to the “rude” behaviour of TD MLAs and said the Opposition was bent on stalling the assembly by creating ruckus every day. He urged the speaker to take stern action against protesting legislators.
Agriculture minister Kurasala Kannababu alleged that Chandrababu Naidu and TD legislators were doing “corpse politics” by portraying ordinary deaths into hooch-related deaths. “Nearly 30 people died due to Naidu’s faults related to the Godavari Pushkaram but Naidu never tried to even condole those families.”
Deputy chief minister Narayana Swamy objected to the continuous ruckus by TD, starting from the day of the Governor’s speech, and said he will expose the “drama” of the TD on the Jangareddygudem deaths.
MLA Kapu Ramachandra Reddy recalled that, sometime ago, a person had gone to the market yard at Rayadurgam to purchase seeds and he returned home safely. Later, he went out and died due to some illness. But, the TD spread lies and claimed the person died in the market yard. Likewise, the TD is spreading lies about the Jangareddygudem deaths, he said.
MLAs RK Roja, Vidadala Rajani, Parthsarathy, Karanam Dharmasri and other legislators objected to the “rude” behaviour of the protesting MLAs. But, the MLAs continued shouting slogans and showed placards in the house. Speaker Sitaram adjourned the house for a while to restore normalcy but in vain.
As the opposition members continued to stall the proceedings demanding a debate on the incident of the death, deputy CM Narayanaswamy moved a resolution for suspension of the members for a day. This was passed and speaker Sitaram announced the suspension. Notably, the TD MLAs were suspended for the third consecutive day.
