NEW DELHI: A Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh said today that he wished he had been "really mad" and acted accordingly to stop the passage of a bill for the bifurcation of the state.
Protesting against the alleged apathy of the central government towards Andhra Pradesh, KVP Ramachandra Rao had on February 2 stood in the well of the Rajya Sabha, carrying a placard that said "Save Andhra Pradesh".
The move had drawn laughter and derision in the House.
Now, in a letter to Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien, he said, "I feel that being called as 'Mad and Laughing Stock' was not any humiliation for me Sir, but please keep it in mind that certainly it was a great humiliation for the people of my state, who were agitating for fulfillment of their legitimate rights."
He said he felt ashamed being a member of Parliament as he was compelled to stay as a silent spectator during the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, in the name of parliamentary customs and conventions, "and now being referred by Chair as Mad and laughing stock solely because of democratically demanding the central government implement" the act.
"I would have acted differently if I were mad on the day of passing the AP Reorganisation Bill by this August House by voice vote by identifying that there was majority of voices saying 'Aye' in a 'disordered House' which was not considered suitable for taking up division," he said in his letter.
The Congress leader said after seeing the apathy of the central government towards Andhra Pradesh and its people during last four years, "I wish I would have been mad rather than sitting idle in the House witnessing the injustice being done to the state".
"...I am 'mad' after the cause of people of Andhra Pradesh and I sincerely wish all the members sitting in this August House and persons holding the positions in the central government shall share the same madness in implementation of AP Reorganisation Act and do justice to the people of the state," he said.