Walkout by YSRC draws flak from other parties

LOUD AND CLEAR: YSRC legislators at the Assembly media point after staging a walkout from the House, in Hyderabad on Friday. Photo: G. Ramakrishna

A walkout by YSR Congress members in the Assembly on Friday in protest against turning down of its demand to put to vote the bifurcation Bill invited flak from Congress, TDP and TRS.

The Congress maintained that a party should not be allowed to lodge its protest for the same reason on consecutive days and waste crucial time of the House.

They highlighted how YSR Congress president Y.S. Vijayamma raised the same points while leading the walkout on the previous working day.

Launching a trenchant attack on YSR Congress, Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy said it had hijacked the business of the House in the name of protest. It should not be given another chance to protest and stage a walkout, he said.

P. Keshav (TDP) criticised Ms. Vijayamma’s remark that the Congress and TDP were conniving to avert voting on the Bill. The TDP was well aware how the Bill could be taken up for voting. The views on the Bill as sought by the President were expressed in the form of a motion or resolution which had to be necessarily put to voting at the end.

TRS member K.T. Rama Rao asked YSR Congress to participate in the debate as there was no provision for voting. He recalled that Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy as Congress legislature party leader made 42 party MLAs write a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking separate Telangana in 2000.

Ms. Vijayamma earlier urged Speaker Nadendla Manohar to spell out his stand on voting. She wondered why the government had kept the issue of voting a secret. The YSR Congress was also clueless whether the voting will take place, clause or schedule wise and when it will take place. The party had demanded that all clauses in the Bill from one to eight be deleted.

She also said the YSR Congress always maintained that the Assembly should have overriding powers to decide the fate of the legislation. In this context, the party demanded voting as per rules 77 and 78 of the Assembly.

Prior to the walkout the Speaker adjourned the House for more than an hour following noisy scenes by YSR Congress members at the podium.