Vijayawada: The privileges committee of Andhra Pradesh has recommended that action be taken against Telugu Desam MLAs K. Atchennaidu and Nimmala Ramanaidu for misleading the House.
Committee chairman Kakani Govardhan Reddy said the privilege committee had come to a consensus that Atchennaidu and Ramanaidu must not be allowed to speak in the assembly till the current session is completed, as they had personally abused Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on the floor of the House, besides making derogatory comments against Speaker Tammineni Sitaram.
However, privileges committee member Anagani Satyaprasad of TD strongly opposed the decision taken by majority members of the panel. He recalled that Ramanaidu had reacted only when the Chief Minister called him “Drama Naidu.” He demanded that the chief whip first check assembly records before following up on the drastic recommendation against the two TD legislators.
The privileges committee has recommended that Assembly Speaker take “an appropriate decision and deny the mike to Atchannaidu and Ramanaidu.” It is, however, not yet known the decision Speaker Sitaram is going to take on the recommendation made by the privileges panel.
Responding to privileges committee’s recommendation, TD MLA Ramanaidu said it is unfair to deny him and Atchennaidu the right to speak in the legislative assembly “for the next two years”. He maintained that they had neither misled the assembly nor spoken any lies. Ramanaidu expressed hope that the Assembly Speaker will not take any “weird decision” against them.
The privileges committee also examined letters given by former state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar and former TD MLA Kuna Ravi Kumar. It is learnt the committee’s recommendations with regard to Ramesh Kumar and Ravi Kumar will be forwarded to the Speaker soon.
