Bedlam Again in AP Assembly, 14 TDP Members Suspended for a Day

Acrimony between the ruling and the opposition members engulfed the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, even as Speaker Tammineni Seetaram warned the Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu at one stage asking him to “be careful”. For the second day in a row, 14 of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party legislators, barring Chandrababu, were suspended from the House for a day during a heated debate on construction of houses under the PM Aawas Yojana.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who intervened in the debate on housing, flayed Chandrababu for “telling lies without even blinking.” Amid the din, the Assembly passed five crucial Bills, including the one banning online gaming in the state. From the word go, the ruling YSR Congress and the TDP members hit out at each on a host of issues and the war of words reached a peak during a discussion on the housing issue.

Chandrababu alleged that the YSRC government was merely affixing its (name) sticker to the houses built by his government earlier. “Bills are not being paid to the houses built and they are also not being handed over to the beneficiaries.

You have created a befuddling situation,” the opposition leader said. The Jagan Mohan Reddy governments claim that the houses were being given away for just Rs 1 each was totally misleading, he alleged.

Rebutting Chandrababus statements, the Chief Minister read out his party’s election manifesto and claimed the former was telling lies without even blinking. “We promised to waive full loan on houses admeasuring 300 sft each.Our manifesto clearly states this..,” Jagan said, waving the manifesto copy.

As Chandrababu tried to counter, he was not allowed to speak and this led to a wordy duel between him and the Speaker. As Chandrababu tried to speak, the speaker said:”This is Assembly.When we are here, its like standing in front of a mirror.We have to be careful.” The speaker added: “There should be give and take.

You talk about my behaviour? What are you talking? Be careful. Take care.Are you threatening me? ” The YSRC MLAs objected to the Leader of Oppositions “attack on Speaker” and demanded that he apologise.

As the TDP legislators were on their feet and raised slogans against the government, Legislative Affairs Minister Buggana Rajendranath asked the Speaker to suspend the opposition members as they were disrupting the proceedings of the House. The minister moved a motion to the effect and it was carried by voice vote.

There was drama even after the suspension as the House Marshals alleged that the TDP members attacked them while being evicted from the House. They complained about it to the Speaker, who said he would look into it.