Hyderabad, July 28: It did not take long for the business in the State Assembly to be hit by personal attacks.
Just on the second day of the session, chaos prevailed during the course of the discussion on budget as Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu traded charges and challenged each other to face a referendum.
The chief minister went to the extent of saying that he would soon announce dates when the referendum could be held and whoever lost should quit politics. Amidst the din, Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy adjourned the House.
It all began when the chief minister intervened even as Congress and TDP members were exchanging remarks over the credibility of Reddy and Naidu. ‘‘Let’s have a referendum on the same. Are you willing?’’ Reddy dared his rival.
Naidu responded quickly saying he was ready but put a rider saying the referendum should also cover other aspects such as ‘‘governance, corruption and political murders’’ apart from credibility.
Since it needs time to have a referendum at the state level, the chief minister should agree to have a direct election to the Mayor’s post in the upcoming GHMC polls so that both of them could contest directly against each other to prove their ‘capacity’. Taking no time to accept the counterchallenge, Rajasekhara Reddy asserted that he would give a date (for elections) at the earliest.
Leaders of other parties, however, did not take kindly to the slanging match between the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition.
‘‘This State is not the jagir of these two leaders.
What is the point in throwing challenges which are unconstitutional?’’ some of them asked.
Praja Rajyam leader Chiranjeevi said today’s proceedings made him understand why people’s problems were not being resolved. ‘‘The problem is with us, those sitting in the House. We should consider people’s problems as a challenge and resolve them. Otherwise, our credibility will take a hit,’’ he averred.
TRS member T Harish Rao took the opportunity to demand that the government should hold a referendum on the demand for Telangana state, rather than on other issues. G Mallesh (CPI), G Kishan Reddy (BJP) and J Ranga Reddy (CPM) also found fault with Reddy and Naidu.
-Agencies