Hyderabad: The Winter Session of the State Assembly began on a noisy note on Friday with the main Opposition Congress MLAs staging a sit-in near the Speaker’s podium and raising slogans against the government till the House was adjourned for the day. The Congress demanded that the debate on farmer issues be taken first, on the back of its Chalo Assembly rally.
The MLAs were furious that the government had used a huge police force to thwart their rally, and had detained party leaders and activists. Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy, who was in the chair, rejected the Congress demand and said Question Hour would be taken up as per the agenda finalised in Business Advisory Committee meeting.
Congress MLAs Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, S.A. Sampath Kumar, T. Jeevan Reddy, T. Rammohan Reddy, Ch Vamshi Chand Reddy and others stormed the podium and argued with the Chair. Ms Reddy’s repeated appeals to agitating members to leave the podium and resume their seats went in vain. While the din continued, she conducted Question Hour for 90 minutes.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao who was present in the House was obstructed by Congress MLAs with slogans while he was speaking. The treasury benches, which earlier adopted a ‘zero tolerance policy’ towards the Opposition by moving resolutions to suspend MLAs who were obstructing the House immediately, showed restraint this time and allowed members to sit in podium and raise slogans till the Question Hour was completed and House adjourned for the day.
