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27 Congress MLAs suspended for unruly behaviour in AP assembly

Amid uproarious scenes, all the 27 Congress members present in the Andhra Pradesh assembly were today suspended for a day for obstructing the proceedings of the House.

On Monday, Congress members prevented Governor C Rangarajan from reading his annual address to the House.

Legislature Affairs Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju moved a motion for the suspension of the members which was carried.

Soon after marshals were summoned to escort the suspended members out of the House. A few of them were even bodily lifted out of the House by the marshals.

The suspensions followed a dharna by a member in the well of the House for about 80 minutes, demanding an immediate discussion on the suicides by cotton growers in large parts of Andhra Pradesh.

In a novel protest, Congress members displayed the stems of the pest-affected cotton plants in the House, and Reddy Nayak (Congress) even wore a garland made of the affected cotton stems while staging the dharna.

At one stage, some ruling Telugu Desam Party members were seen rushing towards the Congress members. However, they were persuaded by ministers to return to their seats.

The House also witnessed slogans and counter-slogans between members of the Congress and the ruling TDP.

Gajapathi Raju was repeatedly heard remarking that the Congress members were turning a serious issue into a tamasha.

Soon after the House assembled, more than 50 members belonging to the Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the NTR-Telugu Desam Party moved an adjournment motion over the issue. When Speaker Y Ramakrishnudu disallowed the motion, the entire Opposition was on its feet.

Repeated appeals by the speaker to the protesting members to resume their seats, saying he would allow a detailed discussion on the issue later, fell on deaf ears.

While the other Opposition members agreed to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's plea that a discussion on the issue could be taken up after the government placed the full details before the House tomorrow, the Congress members persisted with their demand for an immediate debate, forcing Gajapathi Raju to move the motion for their suspension for gross 'misbehaviour'.

P Janardhana Reddy, the leader of the Congress group, was among the 27 members suspended for the day.

Later, the suspended members continued their dharna in the lounge in front of the assembly building complex.

UNI

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