Bharatiya Janata Party MLCs Somu Veerraju and K. Satyanarayana Raju staged a walkout from the Legislative Council saying that they were not being given an opportunity to speak in the House in a short discussion on “Capital Area Development” here on Monday.
Mr. Veerraju made his point and then staged a walkout ignoring fervent appeals of the Council Deputy Chairman Reddy Subramanyam, saying that he was not being allowed to speak.
Trouble began with TDP MLC B.N. Rajasimhulu saying that whatever Mr. Veerraju said was all false. After that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLCs frequently interrupted Mr. Veerraju saying he was “speaking politics rather than about the development of the Capital”.
Charges over cost
Rebutting Mr. Veerraju’s observation that the Legislative Assembly and Council building complex was of poor quality and lacked the required number of urinals, the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P. Narayana said the buildings housing the Legislative Assembly, Council and Secretariat were temporary only.
The allegations the BJP was making about the State government paying ₹10,000 per square foot was “absolutely baseless”, he said. Giving figures, the Minister said that ₹2,980 was paid per square foot. Even after including the cost of interiors, the cost per square foot was only ₹3,520 and after including the cost of external infrastructure like roads, drains, water and power supply the cost per square foot came up to just ₹8,400, the Minister emphasised.
Remarks objected
When TDP MLC Y.B. Rajendra Prasad said that Mr. Veerraju and other BJP leaders were proving to be obstacles like “Saindhava”, a warrior in Mahabharatam, to the relentless efforts of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to build Amaravati against all odds, the BJP Floor Leader took objection and demanded that the name Saindhava be struck off the records.
TDP stand
Mr. Veerraju also protested when the TDP MLCs referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Explaining why it was necessary to bring the name of the Prime Minister, Mr. Rajendra Prasad said that the BJP and the TDP campaigned for the elections together and made several promises to the people together.
Mr Modi in his election campaign in Tirupati said that he would help the State build a capital that was much greater than New Delhi and had now gone back on his word. When he came to lay the foundation stone, he came with a mug of water and fistful of mud, Mr. Rajendra Prasad pointed out.
At this point, Mr. Veeraju and Satyanarayana Raju walked out of the Council.
