VIJAYAWADA: On expected lines, the proceedings of the Legislative Council were disrupted on Monday, with the House barely functioning for 25 minutes.
Soon after the Council convened for the day, YSRCP MLCs stalled the proceedings, demanding a discussion on the Mega DSC recruitment drive, despite Chairman K. Moshen Raju rejecting their adjournment motion on the issue.
“There will be no discussion on the subject once the adjournment motion has been rejected,” the Chairman informed the Opposition members. However, YSRCP members continued to raise slogans.
The Chairman announced that the papers mentioned in the day’s agenda were deemed to have been laid on the table of the House and allowed Question Hour to proceed.
While ministers were answering questions, the high noise levels caused by persistent sloganeering made the proceedings virtually inaudible. When Leader of Opposition Botcha Satyanarayana was given the mic, Treasury bench ministers objected and urged the Chair to bring the House to order. Countering the Opposition, Agriculture Minister Kinjarapu Atchannaidu said the YSRCP—and particularly Botcha Satyanarayana, who served as Education Minister in the previous administration—had no moral right to raise the Mega DSC issue. “He should be ashamed for not conducting a single DSC drive during their five-year tenure,” Atchannaidu remarked.
The Minister’s comments triggered heated exchanges between Opposition and NDA members, forcing the Chairman to adjourn the House.
When the House resumed after nearly 90 minutes, the stalemate persisted, with the Opposition adamant on its demand and Ministers strongly objecting. Continued arguments between Botcha and Atchannaidu forced another adjournment.
When the Council convened once more, a bill introduced by Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar was passed.
