Lok Sabha adjourned twice over Telangana issue

The issue of separate Telangana generated heat in the Lok Sabha, which witnessed two brief adjournments on Tuesday as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Telugu Desam Party and some Congress members vociferously raised the issue.

As soon as the House assembled for the day, TRS members K Chandrasekhar Rao and M Vijayashanti were on their feet demanding the status of the notice for adjournment on the Telangana issue given by them. Even before Speaker Meira Kumar could take up Question Hour, they pressed for the motion.

The Speaker's direction to raise the matter during Zero Hour failed to cut any ice with the TRS members who continued to press their demand. A section of Congress members including M Jagannath, Madhu Goud Yaskhi and Sarvey Satyanarayana also raised slogans demanding a separate Telangana. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy made attempts to calm tempers but slogan-shouting continued from both sides on the issue.

In the melee, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Basudeb Acharya, who was also asked by the Speaker to raise the issue of price rise during Zero Hour, was heard voicing concern over inflation. The Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 11.30 am as Rao and Vijayashanti trooped into the well. TDP members were seen showing placards favouring a United Andhra Pradesh. The TDP's Modugula Venugopala Reddy and Satyanarayana were seen in the aisle.

After the House was adjourned, the Congress's pro-Telangana members had a heated exchange with their party member P C Chacko who had asked them to take their seats. When the House re-assembled, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj made a strong plea for a separate Telangana, saying her party would support a bill for the separate state if the government moved it in the current session.

"Everything has come to a standstill in Telangana region. If anything is going on it is firing of rubber bullets. This can be resolved right way, the prime minister is sitting here. If he says that the government will bring in a bill for a separate Telangana, we will support it," she said.

Swaraj also utilised the opportunity to point out the differences on the issue within the Congress, saying at least 11 members of the ruling party had also joined the TRS members in demanding a separate Telangana.

Normal life remained disrupted in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on the second day of the 48-hour bandh called by Telangana groups in support of their demand for the introduction of a bill for separate statehood. Schools, colleges, shops and other commercial establishments remained closed and public buses largely remained off the roads, with some pro-Telangana workers' unions participating in the shutdown.