Leader of Opposition in Assembly Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday alleged that the voice of the Opposition was being suppressed and said his party would not hesitate to move a no-confidence motion against Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao if the House continued to function in the same manner.
Addressing a press conference after the House was adjourned amidst noisy scenes following suspension of two YSRC members for rest of the session, he demanded the ruling party to change its attitude and revocation of his party members suspension. He also wanted withdrawal of breach of privilege notice against another YSRC member.
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He said never in the history of the State or country was a leader of opposition not given mike to express protest before staging a walkout.
Mr. Reddy said the mike was turned off before he concluded his speech on budget. He maintained that he neither deviated nor criticised anybody personally but was interrupted on 17 occasions by ruling party members. As a result, an hour and six minutes were lost due to interruptions. Charging the government with not following the mandatory rule of allowing general debate on budget for six days and eight days for voting on demands, he said the debate was curtailed to four days.
Alleging that democracy was being murdered and accusing the ruling party of setting wrong precedents, he said people would not appreciate if the Opposition’s voice was stifled and they would teach a lesson. He alleged that only treasury benches version was being shown during telecast of proceedings in the House.
Replying to a question, he said YSRC wants the debate to continue. “That’s why while expressing protest, we went to the House”, he added.
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