The Assembly on Tuesday witnessed a verbal duel between Speaker Thammineni Seetharam and Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu during question hour following the latter’s remark that the House appears to have become a party office.
TDP objection
Mr. Seetharam allowed Gannavaram MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsimohan to speak as soon as the House assembled. The TDP members took objection to it, saying that question hour should be taken up as per Rule 38.
“This is not your party office. Business cannot be conducted at your whims and fancies,” said Mr. Naidu prompting Mr. Seetharam to retort, “Yes, this is not a party office, but it is a known fact what you did in the past.”
The Speaker pointed out that TDP founder-president N. T. Rama Rao was not allowed to speak in the Assembly.
“I too was part of the development as a result of which I was out of power for 15 years.”
The House belonged to every member and every member had the right to speak, subject to rules governing the functioning of the House, he said.
