Ruckus in AP assembly, 2 MLA s hurt

The Andhra Pradesh assembly was on Wednesday plunged into turmoil after 46 members, including the Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu, were suspended from the House and clashed with the marshals leaving two MLAs injured.

The MLAs who belonged to the TDP, the Telengana Rashtra Samithi, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, faced disciplinary action after they continued to persist with their demand for a debate on the alleged money laundering by Sandur Power Company and 12 other subsidiaries promoted by the Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jaganmohan Reddy.

When the suspended MLAs refused to vacate the House, the marshals tried to physically remove them resulting in TDP MLA Vem Narender Reddy sustaining an injury on his right wrist, while his party colleague Payyavula Keshav suffered a head injury when the marshals pushed him on to a glass door that broke in the fight.

Finance and Legislative Affairs Minister K Rosaiah, however, later told the assembly that the two TDP MLAs did not receive any injuries and they were only trying to cover-up their crime of assaulting the marshals in the House.

Trouble began when some TDP MLAs rushed to the well of the House and pleaded with Speaker K R Suresh Reddy to allow a debate on the money laundering issue.

The Speaker adjourned the proceedings twice to restore normalcy but to no avail. He then named the protesting members and asked the legislative affairs minister to move a resolution for their suspension. Accordingly, Rosaiah moved the motion which was carried by a voice vote.

By the time the resolution for their suspension was passed, the protesting TDP MLAs returned to their seats, but the Speaker asked them to leave the House.

As the TDP members stayed put, the Speaker called the marshals to evict the MLAs.

At that stage, TDP MLAs Vem Narender Reddy, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Ch Ayyannapatrudu, Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Sayanna objected to their physical eviction from the House and tried to push the marshals away.

The marshals used force to remove some of the MLAs and then tried to evict senior MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy. At one point, they surrounded the opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu as well but the TDP MLAs stood as a shield and prevented his eviction.

Chief marshal Gajapati Raju pleaded with Naidu and other MLAs to leave the House but the TDP MLAs tore the agenda papers and flung them in the air.

As the marshals increased force to evict the TDP MLAs, TRS MLA Harish Rao joined his colleagues and pushed the marshals aside.

With the marshals unrelenting despite pleas by the MLAs that they would leave the House after a protest, senior TDP MLA Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar attacked the chief marshal.

Former deputy speaker K Harishwar Reddy uprooted a mike and tried to hit the chief marshal and others but his colleague K Atchannaidu prevented him.

As the unruly scenes continued, Speaker Suresh Reddy first ordered discontinuation of the live telecast of House proceedings and later adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

Even after the House was adjourned, the marshals tried to continue their operation but all the opposition MLAs protested in unison, forcing the marshals to retreat.

The opposition MLAs then sat quietly inside the House. Panchayat Raj Minister J C Diwakar Reddy went to the CPI floor leader Ch Venkat Reddy and urged him not to precipitate the situation.

As the protest continued inside the House, floor leaders of opposition parties met the Speaker in his chamber and condemned the high-handedness of the marshals.

Meanwhile, the Assembly security personnel vented their ire on media persons who were recording the scenes in the lobbies, by trying to forcibly disconnect the camera cables as the incident was being telecast live.

As the marshals forcibly tried to disperse the media persons, they strongly protested and the issue was brought to the notice of the Speaker.

Meanwhile, the chief marshal mobilised a strong posse of marshals drawn from the city task force and all of them rounded up the suspended MLAs inside the House.

With folded hands, Gajapati Raju pleaded with Chandrababu Naidu to leave the House. He also had a word with former Speaker and TDP senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu following which the opposition MLAs walked out on their own.