Hyderabad, August 12: Andhra Pradesh assembly Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy Tuesday suspended 44 legislators of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from the house for one day for stalling the proceedings over the issue of curbs on media in assembly premises.
The speaker announced the suspension of the opposition legislators when they insisted on a debate on certain curbs imposed on media by the speaker.
The TDP legislators rushed to the speaker’s podium after he disallowed the adjournment motion on the issue.
The speaker clarified that a decision to regulate media coverage in the assembly premises was taken by the business advisory committee in consultation with opposition parties. He also agreed to reconsider the issue after 15 days but TDP legislators insisted on an immediate debate.
Amid the din, the speaker made repeated appeals to the members to resume their seats and restore order. As the pandemonium continued, Legislative Affairs Minister K.Rosaiah moved a resolution for suspending 44 legislators for three days. The speaker, however, suspended the members for one day.
The suspended members later staged a protest in front of the speaker’s chambers in the assembly premises.
Leader of opposition and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu said it was a pity that the democratic protests and expression of dissent by the opposition members were not being shown in the live telecast of the proceedings.
‘The live footage given to media channels comprised only the statements made by the chief minister, speaker and cabinet members and some members of opposition,’ he said and alleged that the assembly authorities censored footage of the opposition leaders.
He urged the speaker to rescind all the ‘anti-media’ restrictions in the assembly and allow the media to function freely and democratically.
However, Rosaiah said that without media publicity, the TDP president was like a ‘fish out of water’. He said all the chaos and pandemonium caused by the opposition in the house was mostly aimed at gaining political mileage on news channels and newspapers.
Since the commencement of the budget session last month, the speaker imposed several restrictions on media. including cutting down the number of media passes, restrictions on access to lobbies and ban on live telecast of anything in the assembly premises except the assembly proceedings.
–IANS