Legislature Affairs Minister T. Harish Rao and Leader of Opposition K. Jana Reddy traded charges against each other over the pandemonium that engulfed the Telangana Assembly on Saturday which had led to the suspension of 9 Congress and 32 TDP members.
Expressing his anguish and protest over the manner in which the Congress members were suspended, Jana Reddy was aghast that even a member like Batti Vikramarka was suspended despite not rushing into the well of the House. This type of undemocratic action was never witnessed in the past, he lamented.
Pointing out that though there was logjam of parliament for 21 days not a single member was suspended, Jana Reddy said what has been witnessed in the Assembly was contrary to all these democratic practices. People watching the proceedings in the Assembly would only lose faith and confidence in the democratic functioning of the legislature, he observed.
Jana Reddy also resented over the “hasty” manner in which the Speaker had acted in sailing with the decision of the government for the suspension of the members. This sorry state of affairs in the conduct of the legislature only makes me feel that it would be better to go to the people rather that voice our grievances on the floor of the legislature, he observed and appealed to the Speaker to act impartially while conducting the proceedings in the House.
Taking umbrage over the remarks of the Leader of the Opposition, Minister for Legislature Affairs charged that it was the Congress which was murdering democracy. Just because the Congress had succeeded in the logjam of parliament for 21 days, the party’s plan to follow the same here in the Assembly will not work and the government would thwart any such plans, he declared.
Recalling how the TRS members were suspended during the Congress regime for even raising Jai Telangana slogans and Jana Reddy as a minister then had silently watched, Harish Rao lambasted Jana Reddy and said that if the Congress tried to disrupt the proceedings in the Assembly on some pretext or other to gain political mileage for its survival, the government would not yield and succumb to such tactics. Every member is keen for constructive deliberations on issues concerning the people and the state, but the Congress thinking seem to be contrary to this, he quipped. (NSS).