TDP, TMC spar over Room No.5 in Parliament

It is a clash that has moved from the heat and the dust of the constituencies to the hallowed corridors of power. Two political parties, the TDP and the TMC are both staking claim to Room number 5 in Parliament House, one citing “emotional attachment” and the other an “allotment letter”.

On Tuesday, TMC MPs led by Sudip Bandyopdhyay gathered outside Room Number 5 and watched the staff put up a nameplate with their party’s name outside the door, subsequently the board that read “Telugu Desam Party” was pulled down. All this while, the office staff of the TDP sat inside, reluctant to move to their new office on the third floor.

The TDP, which was allotted Room Number 5 on the ground floor in 1984, have now been allotted Rooms 135 and 136 on the third floor. The Party is however, not happy with the move and has written to Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan to consider their request to continue working out of their old office.

“Though we have seen ups and downs in our political career, yet, we held on to R.NO. 5 PH. In the recent elections to the AP Assembly, we rode back to power. Therefore, we are emotionally and sentimentally attached to R.No. 5 PH,” TDP leader YS Chowdary has written to Ms. Mahajan.

The TMC, on the other hand, is quick to show the letter that it has received from the Lok Sabha secretariat, which says the room has been allotted to the party. “We have a letter, issued on August 6 that says please occupy the allotted accommodation at the earliest. That is what we have done today. We are not displacing anyone. There is a system that is followed for room allocation,” said TMC leader Sultan Ahmed. Incidentally, this is the first time that the TMC has been allotted a room in Parliament to run their office.

The TDP, which boasts of 17 Lok Sabha MPs and six in Rajya Sabha is however not ready to give up the room that was allotted to them during the leadership of N.T. Rama Rao.

“Even when we were down to six MPs in the Lok Sabha 2009 we were not asked to shift. We have requested the Speaker to intervene,” said a TDP office bearer.