VIJAYAWADA: Observing that the latest attempt to abolish the Legislative Council shows the inability of the government to build consensus and gain the legislature’s trust in passing Bills, TDP general secretary and MLC Nara Lokesh, in an open letter to public on Thursday, accused the State government of resorting to “undemocratic measures” in the Council on Wednesday.
“One of the darkest days of Indian democracy was February 18, 2014. The Lok Sabha doors were shut and the AP Reorganisation Bill was passed through voice vote on that day. Now, in an extremely disappointing turn of events, a party with an overwhelming majority in the Legislative Assembly tried to ramrod bills in the Legislative Council. Ministers, who were MLAs, tried to control Council proceedings through hooliganism to get the Bills passed, he alleged.“How can the treasury benches resort to such dictatorial attitude? It is a black day of democracy,”
he said. He further said that though the proceedings of the House should not be videographed, he took videos through his mobile phone, with the ministers cautioning of dire consequences if the Bills were not passed. “On January 20, two Bills were passed in the Legislative Assembly - CRDA Repeal Bill and the AP Capital Decentralisation Bill. On January 22, discussion on the Bills were held in the Council. The Honourable Chairman concluded the discussion and, using his discretionary powers, sent the bills to the Select Committee. Ministers and YSRC MLCs viciously opposed it,’’ he explained.
“In their fanatic determination to get these bills passed, MLCs and Ministers of the ruling party subverted all democratic norms. The live telecast was blocked, internet services were shut down, power was cut off and there were continuous disruptions. TDP MLCs were assaulted, documents were torn off, and ministers climbed on tables shouting at the Chairperson,” he alleged.