TRS, YSR Congress members suspended from Andhra assembly

Legislators of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) were Wednesday suspended from the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly for one day for stalling proceedings.

Speaker N. Manohar suspended 13 members of the TRS and 12 belonging to the YSRCP Wednesday evening after the entire morning session was lost due to repeated adjournments over the Telangana issue.

As soon as the house met for the evening session, TRS members got up from their seats and surrounded the speaker's podium, demanding that a resolution be passed for formation of a separate Telangana state.

On the other hand, YSRCP members wanted a debate on IMG land case allegedly involving former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Amid the furore, the speaker adjourned the house for half an hour. When the house re-assembled, the TRS and YSRCP continued their protest. Ignoring the speaker's repeated appeals for calm, the legislators remained standing and continued to shout slogans.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a walk-out, accusing the Congress government of going back on its word on Telangana.

The main opposition TDP also staged a walk-out, accusing the government of running the house only to pass the bills and not to debate people's issues.

TRS and BJP legislators had returned to the house Wednesday after a two-day suspension for stalling the proceedings over the Telangana issue.

Earlier, the morning session was adjourned without any business. TRS members insisted on Telangana resolution while the YSRCP wanted debate on IMG issue. The TDP wanted a debate on law and order situation.

As the bedlam continued even after two adjournments, the speaker adjourned the house till evening.

The second phase of the budget session began last week but four days were lost over the Telangana issue.