Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were affected as some members raised the demand for a separate Telangana and the House witnessed three adjournments.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his party colleague M. Vijaya Shanthi trooped into the well as members of the Telugu Desam Party and the Congress, hailing from the Telangana region, also competed amongst themselves to raise the contentious issue.
Despite repeated pleas by Speaker Meira Kumar to restore order, the members were unrelenting. The House witnessed three adjournments till 2 p.m. as TRS chief and Ms. Shanthi pressed for their adjournment motion on the issue.
Several Congress members, including M. Jagannath, Madhu Goud Yaskhi, Ponnam Prabhakar and Sarvey Satyanarayana were seen raising slogans ‘Jai Telangana,' while TDP member from Adilabad Ramesh Rathod joined the TRS members in the well.
Drawing the attention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was present in the House, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj wanted to know whether Dr. Singh was willing to give an assurance that the government would bring in a Bill in the current session for creation of Telangana.
“Unrest in region”
Referring to the unrest prevailing in the region, Ms. Swaraj said nearly 4 lakh government employees were on a “pen down” strike and about 2,500 lawyers were boycotting courts. “Everything has come to a standstill in the Telangana region. If anything is going on, it is firing of rubber bullets. This can be resolved, peace can return if the Prime Minister who is sitting here says that the government will bring in a Bill to create a separate State of Telangana, the BJP will support it and do its best to get it passed,” she said.
Earlier, as soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, the two TRS members walked into the well as Congress MPs stood up raising slogans, even before the Speaker took up question hour. The House was adjourned first for half an hour and then again till noon as the uproar continued.
When the Lok Sabha reassembled at noon, the Speaker directed tabling of papers. But with protests continuing, she adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
Outside the House, the TRS chief told journalists that his party would disrupt the proceedings in the Lok Sabha until the Centre spelt out a time frame for formation of Telangana.
