Amid pandemonium, leader of the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly N. Chandrababu Naidu and 71 other Telugu Desam Party MLAs were suspended on Tuesday when they stalled the proceedings demanding continuation of a discussion on the farmers' issue, setting aside the debate and passage of government bills.
As they resisted vacating the House after their suspension, Deputy Speaker N. Manohar summoned marshals to shift them. Protesting against the move, some members wrenched mikes, tore the placards they were carrying and threw papers at the Chair.
As the marshals lifted the members, pushing and jostling ensued. In the melee, the shirts of two MLAs, P. Keshav and C. Vijayaramana Rao, were torn while some others received minor injuries. After they were forced out, the MLAs sat in ‘dharna' in the inner lobbies, while others who came out protested by lying on the floor.
Congress MLCs P. Venugopal Reddy and M. Thippeswamy tried to intervene in the arguments between TDP MLAs and the marshals. They were pushed aside by the TDP MLAs, causing a minor injury to Mr. Reddy.
Mr. Naidu directed his ire at the Deputy Speaker's action in suspending the members and then at the other Opposition parties for not speaking a word when the TDP members were being “humiliated” in the House. Earlier, Mr. Naidu had a running argument with Revenue Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy when the latter alleged that the main Opposition was colluding with microfinance institutions and wanted the bill to be referred to a select committee.
