Mayhem in AP assembly; 9 TRS MLAs suspended

Nine Telangana Rashtra Samithi members were suspended from Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly on Wednesday for disrupting the proceedings.

Speaker K R Suresh Reddy ordered their suspension after they repeatedly obstructed the functioning of the House by rushing towards the podium and raising slogans, demanding the revocation of a government order on micro-irrigation which, they alleged, will adversely impact the farmers in Telangana region.

After Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao moved the motion for their suspension for the day, the suspended members were evicted out of the House by marshals.

Members of Telugu Desam Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist and CPI-ML and BJP staged a walk-out.

The issue of GO 34 was raised by TDP during question hour. Replying to the question, Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation Ponnala Lakshmaiah tried to allay the fears of Opposition members that the pilot project will hurt the interests of the farmers.

Opposition members claimed that the pilot project being taken up in the command area (Ayacut) of A Madhav Reddy project (Srisailam left bank canal) on river Krishna will reduce the quantum of irrigation water for Nalgonda district in the guise of micro-irrigation for efficient utilization of water resources.

All the opposition parties demanded the withdrawal of the GO 34 immediately.

At one stage, when TRS members indulged in noisy sloganeering against doing injustice to Telangana region, the Speaker adjourned the House.

After the sitting re-commenced, the House took up the felicitation of newly-elected Deputy Speaker Gummadi Kuthuhalamma and later reverted to the discussion on GO 34.

Despite the long-winding reply by Irrigation Minister, the opposition members remained dissatisfied. TRS members once again rushed towards the podium and shouted slogans, leading to their suspension and walk-out by other Opposition parties.