VIJAYAWADA: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress (YSRC) MPs, who were demanding that the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allow notices for no-confidence motion against the NDA government issued by them separately in the last three weeks, intensified their agitation on the last day of the Budget session of Parliament on Friday.
Shortly after Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die without transacting much business, the MPs from Andhra Pradesh belonging to two main rival parties staged protests separately. While TDP MPs staged a protest in the Lok Sabha, YSRC party MPs resigned to their MP posts and went on an indefinite fast at AP Bhavan.
YSRC party MPs -- Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy (Nellore), YV Subba Reddy (Ongole), P Mithun Reddy (Rajampet), YS Avinash Reddy (Kadapa) and V Varaprasad Rao (Tirupati) submitted their resignation letters to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in protest against the NDA government for not granting Special Category Status (SCS) to AP as promised on the Floor of the House in 2014.
Though the Speaker asked them to reconsider their decision, they insisted that their resignations be accepted. Later, they took out a rally from Parliament to AP Bhavan where they began an indefinite hunger strike.Even as they were explaining the reasons for their decision to a large number of supporters, including party MLAs and leaders, who turned up in their support, heavy rain accompanied by high-velocity wind lashed Delhi, uprooting the protest camp at AP Bhavan. The fasting MPs continued their agitation in the corridor of AP Bhavan.
Earlier, YSRC party chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy tweeted “YSRCP MPs will go on an indefinite hunger strike at AP Bhavan, Delhi, while we will observe relay hunger strikes across the State. We continue to stand in solidarity with the people of AP in their fight for Special Category Status!”
Meanwhile, TDP MPs continued their protest in the Lok Sabha, after the House was adjourned sine die.
However, after some time, when marshals informed them that Speaker Sumitra Mahajan wanted to speak to them, they left Lok Sabha and went to the Speaker’s chambers. However, she had already left the office by the time they reached there. Taking strong objection to it, they staged a sit-in inside the Speaker’s chambers.
“We were misled and marshalled out of the Lok Sabha to LS Speaker’s chambers where we gheraoed the Speaker. After she left, we staged a dharna in her chambers,” TDP MP Jayadev Galla tweeted. They continued their dharna in the Speaker’s chambers till late in the evening and were marshalled out of Parliament House following the directions of the Speaker, after efforts to reason with them failed. Later, they staged a protest at Gate No. 1, lambasting the Union government for ‘insulting’ treatment meted out to them.
On Thursday, the TDP Rajya Sabha MPs staged a protest inside the Upper House and were marshalled out after they refused to leave. The second half of the Budget session was a washout with not much business taking place in both the Houses of Parliament. With AIADMK MPs continuing their protest demanding Cauvery board, the notices of no-confidence motion were disallowed by the LS Speaker who went on an adjournment spree saying that the House was not in order.A total time of 127 hours and 45 minutes was wasted due to ‘interruptions and forced adjournments’ in the Lok Sabha while it was 121 hours in the Rajya Sabha.