T'gana Assembly: Ten TDP MLAs suspended from Budget session

Ten MLAs of the opposition TDP were today suspended from the Telangana Legislative Assembly for the remainder of the ongoing Budget session after they refused to tender an apology for a protest during Governor's address on the opening day and for allegedly insulting the national anthem.
The suspension of TDP legislators, including the party's floor leader E Dayakar Rao, was announced by Speaker S Madhusudanachary on a proposal moved by Legislative Affairs Minister T Harish Rao, who alleged the members showed disrespect to the Governor during the customary joint sitting of the legislature on last Saturday and also insulted the national anthem.

Referring to a decision taken at a meeting held by the Speaker with leaders of different parties that members, who showed disrespect to the national anthem should tender an apology, the minister said, TDP floor leader E Dayakar Rao did not utilise the opportunity when he was asked to speak.
Speaking on the issue, Opposition Leader K Jana Reddy (Congress) and BJP floor leader K Laxman sought that the decision to suspend the members for the entire session be reconsidered as such a measure would be "too harsh".
Noting that some members have been consistently disrupting the smooth functioning of the House, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the government is determined to see that the business is conducted as per schedule.

Asserting that the government would be tough in its effort to ensure that the House functioned normally, he sought that the suspended members realise their alleged mistake and that the matter of reconsidering on their suspension can be taken up after some days.

Meanwhile, Congress member Sampath Kumar tendered an apology on the same issue saying it was not a deliberate act. He also said the audibility in the House was poor during the incident on Saturday and full details of the footage are not available.
Jana Reddy and Laxman asserted that all facts on the footage, including the involvement of some ruling TRS members, should be known. The footage was shown to the leaders of different parties earlier.

The BJP members staged a walk out on the issue seeking that the role of TRS members in the incident, if any, should come out in the open among others.
On Saturday, opposition members alleged that the ruling TRS was encouraging defections. Holding placards, they shouted slogans and flung papers at the podium. The Governor's address continued amidst sloganeering and protests.