TRS legislators stall Andhra assembly for second day

HYDERABAD - Andhra Pradesh assembly was adjourned without transacting any business for the second consecutive day Saturday as Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) members stalled proceedings to demand withdrawal of cases against students who participated in the Telangana movement.

Eleven TRS legislators continued their sit-in at the speaker’s podium even after deputy speaker Nadendla Manohar adjourned the house for the day.

Members of main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) too refused to leave the house, alleging that the government was shirking from the debate on the problems faced by farmers by adjourning the assembly.

Manohar adjourned the house to Monday as pandemonium continued after the house re-assembled after three adjournments earlier in the day.

Appealing to the members to cooperate, the deputy speaker said the government was ready to make a statement on the TRS’ demand, but this failed to pacify the legislators, who resorted to slogan-shouting in the well of the house.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) wanted the government to withdraw the cases booked against Muslim students in connection with communal riots and the blast at the historic Mecca Masjid.

The TDP has given a call for state-wide protests Saturday against the government’s alleged failure to come to the rescue of farmers and demanded a debate on the issue, even as the deputy speaker wanted to proceed with the question hour.

Earlier, TDP legislators, led by Leader of Opposition and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, marched to the assembly from NTR Ghat at Hussainsagar Lake here. Naidu wanted the government to immediately announce a relief package for the farmers who lost their crops in the recent rains.

Facing a difficult situation in his first assembly session as the chief minister, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy held a meeting with Congress party legislators and ministers from Telangana.

He told the assembly Friday that the government would have to follow a procedure in withdrawing the cases and that it would take a legal opinion.

Earlier, hours after they were forcibly carried away by the police, TRS legislators returned to the legislative assembly to stall proceedings.

They had remained seated in the house Friday after the deputy speaker adjourned the house for the day. In an unprecedented move, police entered the assembly late Friday to eject them.

They, however, rushed to Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy’s house and began a sit-in there. They squatted in front of her house and had their meals on the road well past midnight. TRS workers also tried to reach the spot but were prevented by the police.

The legislators were arrested and shifted to a police station. They were released early Saturday.