TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad: The state assembly hit a new low on Monday after agriculture minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy got physical with at least two TDP MLAs besides using abusive language and tearing up placards. Shocked by the incident, many legislators said that never in the history of Indian Parliament or state legislature had a minister assaulted a member inside the House. Vivekananda Reddy, better known as Viveka is the younger brother of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
The penultimate day of the budget session began at 9am with the usual ruckus by three parties which has become a routine. While TDP members were up on their feet holding placards which said ‘YSR and his gang of thieves’ and demanded that land allotments during the previous Congress regime be probed by a House committee, about 10 Jagan loyalist ruling party MLAs held placards demanding that the land dealings of the Chandrababu Naidu government too should be probed. In the meantime, MIM MLAs rushed to the well of the House demanding that any House committee probe should also include sale of wakf land to private parties.
The time was 9.10am. All of a sudden, Vivekananda Reddy, a legislative council member who was in the assembly to move demands for grants for 2011-12 for his department, got up and walked to the TDP benches. He first snatched a placard criticising YSR held by TDP’s first row member V Joga Rao, tore it up and threw it back at the member. He then entered into an argument with a seated G Muddukrishnamma Naidu and pounced on TDP MLA Ch Prabhakar standing in second row and shouting ‘YSR gang of thieves’. A furious Vivekananda then aimed a slap at Prabhakar that grazed his face. When he attempted again, Muddukrishnamma intervened because of which the blow aimed at Prabhakar brushed the senior TDP MLA and tore the latter’s pocket. Vivekananda’s physical outburst was accompanied by verbal abuses, most of which could not be heard in the enusing din.
Even as TDP MLAs surged forward to confront the minister, Jagan loyalists Congress MLAs also rushed towards Vivekananda to defend him. However, ministers J Sreedhar Babu and others came in the way even as the MIM legislators whisked away Vivekananda back to his seat. By this time marshals took up positions as buffers between the warring groups. TRUCE ARRIVED AFTER HECTIC PARLEYS CM apologises on behalf of Viveka
Hyderabad: Tempers remained frayed in the house on Monday following the melee as minister YS Vivekananda Reddy went up to the assembly secretary and demanded how he allowed the TDP to bring anti-YSR placards into the House.
After hectic parleys within the t re a s - u r y benches and talks with Naidu resulted in a compromise, the assembly re-convened at 4.30pm. Vivekananda then read out a prepared statement, in which he said he was offended by the criticism of YSR. “We were like Ram and Laxman. I felt pained when he was singled out for every single misdeed of the previous government. I sincerely regret the way I behaved in the morning. Let us put it behind us,” he said.
At this, Muddukrishnamma Naidu said that never has the House witnessed such a behaviour by a minister and demanded that he demit office immediately. However, chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy intervened and said what happened in the morning was an unfortunate episode. “When we are in the government, we should show the utmost restraint. Since Vivekananda is my cabinet member, I take responsibility and apologise on his behalf,” he
said.
Chandrababu Naidu then got up and said that the TDP has never targeted YSR but picked on only his policies and the misdeeds done by his government. “We will not be cowed down by such acts of goondaism. Since the CM and the minister have apologised, the TDP accepts it and the matter ends here as far as we are concerned,” he said. The House then took up discussion on the TDP’s demand for a joint legislative committee probe into land allotments during the YSR regime.
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