Telangana Assembly created an history of sorts in the annals of the legislature on Tuesday by expelling two Congress members for their “dastardly act” during the Governor’s address to the joint session of the state legislature on the opening day of the budget session on Monday resulting in injury of the Council Chairman Swamy Goud.
The two Congress members expelled and thus disqualified as MLAs were Komatireddy Venkatreddy and Sampath Kumar. What is more as many as 11 Congress members including the Leader of the Opposition K. Jana Reddy were suspended for the entire session of the House. The other Congress members suspended were T. Jeevan Reddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy, C. Chinna Reddy, Mallu Batti Vikramarka , Rammohan Reddy, Vamsidhar Reddy, Madhava Reddy, J.Geetha Reddy, D.K. Aruna and Padmavathi Reddy.
The “unruly incident” that unfolded during the joint session of the legislature also had its impact in the Legislative Council today with six Congress members including the Leader of the Opposition Mohammed Shabbir Ali were suspended for the entire budget session. The other Congress members on whom the axe fell include Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, Damodar Reddy. Santosh, Akula Lalitha and Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy. The Council’s action was announced by Dy. Chairman N. Vidyasagara Rao, pointing out that he suspension will be effective for the entire Budget session.
As soon as the Assembly assembled for the second day of the budget session today, Speaker Madhusudhana Chary recalled the “unruly drama “that was witnessed in the House and described as not only unfortunate but unpardonable. Expressing his deep anguish and concern over the incident, he described it as a “black day” in the history of the House.
Explaining that during the BAC meeting, the Floor leaders various parties have condemned the incident and had advised him to take appropriate action of going through the proceedings and the CCTV footage. Castigating the Congress members for belittling the democratic values and dignity of the House with their “violent behaviour”, he observed that such acts cannot be pardoned.
The Minister for Legislature Affairs T. Harish Rao then moved a motion for the suspension of 11 Congress members for the entire session, which was adopted amidst protests from the Congress members. He then moved another resolution after quoting parliament procedures and rules for the expulsion of the two Congress members, which was adopted by the House.
The Speaker then repeatedly advised the Congress members to leave the House. After the protesting Congress members left the House, the regular business as per the agenda was taken up. (NSS).