Telangana issue rocks Andhra assembly again, 12 members suspended
By IANSWednesday, February 23, 2011
HYDERABAD - The Telangana issue rocked the Andhra Pradesh assembly for the fourth consecutive day Wednesday as 12 Telangana legislators were suspended from the house for one day for stalling the proceedings, demanding that the house pass a resolution for the formation of a separate state.
Deputy Speaker Nadendla Manohar announced the suspension of eight legislators of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and four of the Communist Party of India (CPI) after Legislative Affairs Minister Sridhar Babu moved a resolution to this effect.
The TRS legislators, including floor leader E. Rajender and Tarakarama Rao, son of party chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, were suspended as they refused to leave the podium of the house.
The suspended legislators refused to leave the house despite appeals by the deputy speaker, and continued raising slogans of “Jai Telangana”, disrupting the budget speech of Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy.
The legislators of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from Telangana region boycotted the state budget and staged a sit-in at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the assembly premises, demanding the Telangana bill in parliament.
Police arrested them as they tried to take out a rally after paying tributes to Telangana martyrs at Gun Park, in front of the assembly building.
Earlier, the house was adjourned thrice as the pro-Telangana legislators stalled the proceedings, demanding a resolution on Telangana and release of protesters arrested during the ongoing 48-hour Telangana shutdown.
For the fourth consecutive day, Telangana legislators tried to stall the house. After the budget speech, the deputy speaker adjourned the house till Friday.
The deputy speaker Feb 18 had suspended three TRS legislators and two of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for one week for their unruly behaviour during Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan’s address to the joint session of both houses a day earlier.
