Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Heated exchanges over G.O. in House

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD MARCH 26. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly witnessed acrimonious exchanges between the Telugu Desam and the Congress members on Wednesday over the implementation of the interim report of the House Committee on Government Order 610, which contains 6-point formula for the people of Telangana region.

Congress members, mostly hailing from the Telangana region, who raised the issue along with the CPI (M) through adjournment motions, stalled the question hour for about 40 minutes, demanding a firm assurance from the Government on implementation of the committee's unanimous recommendations within a specific time period. The Speaker, K. Pratibha Bharathi, disallowed the adjournment motion on the issue, but a heated debate followed.

The sharp exchanges led to challenges and name calling when the Home Minister, T. Devender Goud, pointed to the differences among the Telangana, Rayalaseema and the Coastal Andhra Congress legislators, apparent in the way only Telangana MLAs stood up to raise the issue while others kept quiet. He said the Telugu Desam Government was in the process of "wiping out the sins" committed by successive Congress Governments in the past by "neglecting" Telangana.

Congress members protested noisily while the Leader of the Opposition, Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy, retorted: "It is shameful that the Telugu Desam continues to blame the Congress despite being in power for 15 of the last 20 years and that the zoning regulations were brought into force in 1995 when the TDP was in power.''

Dr. Reddy challenged the Government to discuss in the House, threadbare, what was achieved and not during the respective Congress and Telugu Desam regimes in removing regional imbalances. Accepting the challenge, the Home Minister said the Government was prepared for a discussion to settle the issue once and for all.

The CPI (M) floor leader, N. Narasimhaiah, his colleague, S. Rajaiah, and Asaduddin Owaisi (MIM) supported the demand for a discussion.

The Speaker then announced that a floor leaders' meeting would be held to decide on a discussion and the date.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Heated exchanges over G.O. in House
• Death of `RK' major blow to PW
• Top IAS official alleges smear campaign
• Impact of drought on urban areas too
• Irregularities in land deals: 30 officials face action
• Heated debate over allotment of house sites to MLAs
• Move to replace APCC chief
• Coop polls soon, says Chikkala

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu