The state assembly on Monday witnessed protests, heated arguments and high drama from either side of the regional divide.
As soon as the House met at 9 a.m., legislators from both the sides stormed the Speaker’s podium, holding placards and raising slogans in support of their respective demands and disrupted the proceedings.
The House was adjourned twice following acrimonious scenes in the House after the draft T Bill was introduced. The trouble started the moment House commenced business with various political parties demanding their adjournment motions for integrated statehood and separate state be taken up for discussion. While MLAs from Telangana pressed for immediate tabling of the draft AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 in the House, their counterparts from Seemandhra demanded a resolution against the proposed bifurcation of the state.
Despite Speaker Nandendla Manohar’s repeated appeal to the members to take their seats and take up today’s agenda the members continued raising ‘Jai Samikyandhra’ and ‘Jai Telangana’ slogans. As the members remained unrelenting, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 10 am.
When the House resumed at 10 am the members again started raising slogans. Amid the din the Speaker announced that he had received Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill-2013 Draft from the President and asked the secretary of the state legislature S Rajasadaram to read out the covering letter. The House was adjourned for half an hour by the Speaker as noisy scenes continued.
TDP members tore the copies of the bill as soon as they were distributed, while YSRC legislators burnt the copies on the assembly premises, drawing the ire of their Telangana counterparts. When finally the House met at 2.55 pm there was complete commotion with both pro and anti-Telangana members raising slogans. As soon as Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka arrived the members stormed the Speaker’s podium. YSRC member Kapu Ramachandra Reddy pulled out the Speaker’s mike and the TRS members who were near the podium managed to pull Ramachandra Reddy away from the podium. Stunned by the member’s behaviour the deputy speaker requested the members to take their seats but his request went unheard.
Later it was free for all. The Seemandhra members climbed the table near the podium and started raising slogans. Anti-Telangana members tore the draft copies and threw near the podium. Even an appeal from legislative affairs minister D Sridhar Babu to allow the House to take up discussion went unheard. He reminded the Chair that all the political parties have agreed to allow the introduction of the Bifurcation Bill in the House.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker whose mike was broken by the YSRC member, had to use lapel mike to ask leader of the opposition N Chandrababu Naidu to initiate discussion on the T-Bill. But as the situation was not conducive, the Deputy Speaker adjourned the House till Tuesday morning.