Telangana Rashtra Samithi members were suspended for the day on Friday even as the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was adjourned twice amidst uproarious scenes over the derogatory remark of a minister.
The trouble arose as soon as the House met on Friday morning. Speaker K R Suresh Reddy disallowed the adjournment notices given by the opposition parties, including one by Telangana Rashtra Samithi members against Minister for Panchayat Raj J C Diwakar Reddy for calling them 'street rowdies.'
Even as TDP and CPI-M members were demanding that the issues raised by them be discussed, TRS members rushed towards the Speaker's podium, raising slogans and displaying placards against the minister for calling them 'street rowdies', thereby insulting the people of Telangana. They also demanded an unconditional apology from the Minister.
They continued protests for nearly half-an-hour. When his repeated pleas to the members to go back to their seats fell on deaf ears, the Speaker adjourned the House for half-an-hour.
When the House re-assembled, the TRS members continued their noisy protest and remained in the well of the House. The Minister expressed his 'regret' but the TRS members were not convinced and persisted on their demand for unconditional apology.
The scuffle continued and the Speaker adjourned the House once again.
When the House re-assembled, the Speaker termed the behaviour of Harish Rao as 'regrettable and unpardonable' and asked him to tender an apology, which he did. Again, the TRS members rushed towards the podium and insisted that the Panchayat Raj Minister should apologise for his utterances, too.
The Speaker asked Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao to move a resolution for suspending 13 TRS members from the Assembly for the day. While marshals were called in to evict the suspended TRS members from the House, TDP members tried to come to their rescue. However, the TRS members were taken away.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party member G Kishen Reddy on Friday withdrew his resignation from the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Kishen Reddy, who had submitted his resignation from the House on Thursday after being pulled up by Speaker
K R Suresh Reddy for lacking manners, relented on the issue and took back his resignation after a brief meeting with the Speaker this morning.
Kishen Reddy explained that he had reconsidered his decision to quit the Assembly, after the Speaker spoke to him and explained that the comment was not specifically directed at him. Moreover, his party seniors, supporters and constituency people wanted him to continue his membership in the Assembly.