The Hindu : Front Page : Furore in Assembly over Visakhapatnam bypoll

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 02, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Furore in Assembly over Visakhapatnam bypoll

Special Correspondent

31 TDP members suspended for paralysing proceedings

FORCIBLE EVICTION: TDP MLAs being carried out by marshals after they were suspended from the Assembly on Wednesday. — Photo: Satish. H

HYDERABAD: Thirtyone Telugu Desam members were suspended from the Assembly for two days when they paralysed proceedings demanding Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's resignation over the countermanding of the byelection in Visakhapatnam-I constituency.

Although Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu was not among the TDP members suspended, he too walked out with his colleagues and joined them in a dharna below the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Assembly premises. The Chief Minister, who spoke to reporters later, rejected the demand saying that TDP workers themselves had been caught with more than Rs. 7 lakhs in cash during the campaign.

As soon as the proceedings began, the TDP and five other parties created noisy scenes by tabling separate adjournment motions. The BJP too alleged failure of the Government machinery in ensuring a free and fair election. All the six motions were disallowed by Speaker K. R. Suresh Reddy.

This led to an uproar with TDP members shouting and the Congress countering them with slogans. This forced the Speaker to adjourn the House for nearly 90 minutes during which time he convened a meeting of the floor leaders to find a way out of the impasse. However, the TDP did not yield from its demand that the Chief Minister step down.

Members named

When the House reassembled, the TDP members rushed into the well holding aloft placards. In the din caused by acrimonious exchanges between TDP and Congress members, the Speaker asked Finance and Legislative Affairs Minister K. Rosaiah to reply to the discussion on the State budget.

As the TDP members disrupted the Minister's speech, the Speaker named them. Taking the cue, Mr. Rosaiah moved a motion for their suspension from the House for two days. After the motion was passed by voice vote amid thumping of desks by Congress members, marshals entered the House and forcibly removed TDP members. Some of them had to be bodily lifted.

Mr. Rosaiah later expressed unhappiness over the atmosphere created in the House by a small minority of members.

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