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AP Assembly: BJP member quits over manners

By Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
December 21, 2006 13:52 IST
Bharatiya Janata Party member G Kishen Reddy on Thursday submitted his resignation from the Assembly after Speaker K R Suresh Reddy pulled him up for "lacking manners."

Kishen Reddy went to the Speaker's chambers, wrote out his resignation letter and handed it over to the Speaker. However, the Speaker asked him to reconsider his decision and kept the resignation in abeyance. Kishen Reddy then left the Assembly premises in a huff after telling the media that he had put in his papers.

"The Speaker told me in the House that I lack manners. The House is meant for people with manners and not for persons like me. Hence, I have submitted my resignation from the Assembly," he said.

The Speaker, however, told the House, "When the Chair speaks, the members should not interrupt. That is minimum manners, minimum courtesy apart from the rules which are very specific. If he is hurt over that, my intention was not to hurt him. It was only a message to be given to the House. If he is hurt, I will talk to him and sort it out."

Earlier, during the question hour, when Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah was answering a question on the irrigation projects, the BJP member insisted on the minister to answer the supplementaries posed by him. At this stage, the Speaker said, "This is question hour. Every question is important. Please bear this in mind."

When Kishen Reddy did not relent, the Speaker pulled him up saying, "You listen to me. Why do you keep interrupting when the Chair speaks? This is the minimum manners that when the Chair speaks, you must listen. Kishen Reddy, why do you want to enter into an argument with the Chair? You must show basic courtesies."

Soon after, a piqued Kishen Reddy decided to resign the Assembly membership. BJP has two members in the 294-member Assembly and Kishen Reddy is the floor leader of the party. A first-time member of the Assembly, Kishen Reddy was elected from Himayatnagar constituency in the city in 2004 polls.

The 42-year-old Kishen Reddy is a former Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader and a close supporter of BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu. A diploma-holder in tool engineering, he has been actively associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

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