Congress walkout over plot allotment to NTR trust

The main Opposition Congress staged a walkout in the Andhra Pradesh assembly on Monday protesting against the government's refusal to cancel the allocation of 3,900-odd sq m of prime land in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, to the NTR Trust floated by the ruling Telugu Desam Party.

The walkout came as a culmination of a 150-minute acrimonious debate during zero hour, when Congress floor leader P Janardhan Reddy wrenched a mike. Members from the treasury benches and the Congress almost came to blows over Labour Minister T Srinivas Yadav's provocative gesture challenging them "to come out of the House".

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who reminded the House that the matter was sub-judice, condemned the walkout charging the Congress with trying to extract political mileage by "misleading" the people.

The NTR trust was similar to the AICC office in New Delhi, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Gandhi Bhavan Trust, the head quarters of the Congress in the state, he said.

Congress members rushed to the speaker's podium for the second time when Naidu referred to the land allotted to the Rajiv Gandhi memorial at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, where the former prime minister was assassinated.

Speaker Y Ramakrishnudu had a tough time in controlling the members.

UNI