Telangana issue rocks Andhra assembly

Protests for and against a separate Telangana state rocked the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly Wednesday.

Amid the ruckus, the house passed a bill by a voice vote and conducted other official business within a couple of minutes.

As the house met after a day's holiday, legislators from Telangana region surrounded the speaker's podium to lodge their protest over the manner in which an official resolution was passed by a voice vote Jan 30, rejecting the Telangana bill sent by the president for the state legislature's opinion.

The lawmakers from Telangana, who had disrupted the vote-on-account presentation Monday, raised slogans of "Jai Telangana".

Members from Seemandhra also rushed to the well, shouting slogans of "Jai Samaikyandhra".

Amid the din, Speaker N. Manohar adjourned the house for one hour. When it re-assembled, the members continued the slogan-shouting.

The speaker asked Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy to move demands for vote-on- account and supplementary estimates.

The minister also moved the Andhra Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which was passed by a voice vote. The speaker adjourned the house for the day.