Eleven members of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) were suspended for allegedly disrupting the proceedings of the House on Monday.
TDP members and the ruling YSR Congress party came to virtual blows, pushing and jostling in the state legislative assembly, following which House Speaker Tammineni Sitaram suspended 11 TDP members for the day.
The Speaker later ruled that hereafter, any member who would storm the Speaker’s podium and behave in an “unruly manner” would be automatically suspended from the House.
The Speaker said he was terribly hurt by the behaviour of the TDP members, who surrounded his podium from all sides, tore the papers and abused him in foul language.
He alleged the TDP members brought placards into the House and placed them on his face, thereby disrespecting the chair.
Also Read: Opposition walks out of Meghalaya assembly over Governor’s address in Hindi
The ruckus began soon after the House assembled for the day when the TDP members raised a protest over the state government’s recent order in which it banned public rallies and roadshows on the highways, state roads and public places.
Chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in Andhra Pradesh in January this year banned roadshows, public rallies and political processions on roads, including state and national highways.
The decision was made in the wake of two incidents involving TDP which resulted in as many as 11 deaths.
The TDP members allegedly displayed placards and surrounded the Speaker’s podium, demanding that the state government withdraw the order. Alleging that the YSRCP government was trying to muzzle the voice of the opposition, the TDP embers also allegedly tore papers lying on the podium and threw the pieces on the Speaker.
As the TDP members continued to corner the Speaker raising slogans, a few YSRCP members also rushed and started which led to a clash. TDP lawmaker Dola Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy alleged that T J Sudhakar Babu and V R Eliza, the ruling party MLAs, attacked him and beat him, before pushing him down the podium.
Whereas, YSR’s Babu claimed that Veeranjaneya tried to manhandle the Speaker and Eliza had rushed to the podium to protect him. “The TDP MLAs themselves attacked me and I suffered a bleeding injury on my elbow,” he claimed.
Senior TDP MLA Gorantla Buchaiah also alleged that he too was pushed by the YSRCP members, while the latter alleged that the TDP MLA had pushed Vellampalli, a YSRCP MLA.
The proceedings were stalled for a brief period and the TDP leaders were suspended for a day from the assembly proceedings.
Also Read: Congress blames Centre for impasse in Parliament, reiterates JPC on Adani issue
Both the TDP and YSRCP described it as a black day in the history of the state assembly and accused each other of being responsible for the pandemonium.
Deputy chief minister Narayana Swamy urged the Speaker to register criminal cases against the TDP members and impose severe punishment on them.
Leader of opposition and TDP president Nara Chandrababu Naidu said never in the history of Andhra Pradesh had an MLA been attacked inside the House.
He alleged that the attack on Veeranjaneya, a Dalit MLA, was pre-planned and carried out with encouragement from chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
“With the physical attack on the MLA right on the floor of the assembly, the people clearly understood the policies of the YSRCP,” he said.
