Ten agitating Telugu Desam Party MLAs including the floor leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao were suspended from the rest of the session by Telangana Speaker S. Madhusudhana Chary after they refused to tender an apology for protest during the Governor’s address to the joint session of TS Legislature on Saturday last.
As soon as the House commenced its sitting on Monday, the TDP legislators were on their feet demanding Government protection for the rights of the SCs and STs. They rushed into the Well of the House seeking justice for them.
Legislative Affairs Minister T. Harish Rao speaking in the House demanded that those, who had shown disrespect to the National Anthem should tender unconditional apology. He said that if the TDP members failed to apologise stern action would be initiated against them. As the TDP members refused to heed to the request, he moved a resolution seeking the suspension of the agitating members. The Speaker suspended the TDP MLAs but the latter stayed put near the podium.
The suspended MLAs include - G. Vivekanand Goud, Arikela Satyanarayana, Sandra Venkataramana Reddy, Veeranna, Rajendra Prasad, Maganti Gopinath, Manchireddy Kishan Reddy, Prakash Goud, Gandhi and M. Krishna Rao.
Later, they came out of the House in a rally and staged a sit-in at the entrance of the lobbies raising slogans against the Government. Interestingly, they leveraged another demand of theirs, that of including those from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and women members in the Cabinet.
They pointed out that if the Government really respected women, Chief Minster K. Chandrasekhar Rao could have taken on board his Cabinet a woman member, coinciding with the Women's Day on March 8. They also demanded inclusion of SC/ST members.
When asked about the TD Legislature Party's future course of action, Mr. Dayakar Rao said that because they were suspended for the entire duration of the Budget Session, they would stage demonstrations outside the House every day with one demand.
Earlier, the Speaker convened a meeting of the floor leaders to watch the video footage of the Governor’s address when TDP and other members staged protest seeking the disqualification of the defectors. When the National Anthem was being played, some members were found standing on their seats, which led to outcry that they had shown disrespect.
