By IANS,
New Delhi : Noisy protests for and against the division of Andhra Pradesh Thursday forced repeated disruptions of the Lok Sabha that saw 28 business papers tabled in a span of just 15 minutes amid the chaos before the house was adjourned for the day.
Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Karia Munda was forced to adjourn the house for the day as the MPs from Andhra Pradesh representing the two sides of the debate on a separate state of Telangana continually disrupted the proceedings in the pre- and post-lunch sessions.
There were two adjournments in the pre-lunch session. The house had first been adjourned at 11.15 a.m. for 15 minutes. There was a brief lull in the house after it resumed at 11.30 a.m. Question Hour went on rather smoothly till noon when the chaos began all over again. Speaker Meira Kumar was forced to adjourn the Lok Sabha for two hours till 2 p.m.
As soon as the house met after the two-hour adjournment to discuss problems in Maoist-affected states, MPs from various parties demanded a discussion over the separate state issue, which Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad described as a “dangerous” trend.
“This is dangerous� And the trend will lead to many other divisions. It will not remain limited to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana only. The trend will lead to many other divisions (of states) in the country,” Lalu Prasad told the house.
He and other MPs, including Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal-United’s Sharad Yadav, demanded that a discussion should be scheduled and every member should be allowed to speak.
As Munda agreed and asked the MPs to let the house conduct its business, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members, including M. Venugopala Reddy, N. Sivaprasad, K. Narayana Rao, and N. Kristappa, trooped towards the speaker’s podium shouting slogans against the division of the state.
The deputy speaker then adjourned the house till Friday morning.
In what was a repeat of scenes in the morning, TDP MPs held up placards stating “We want united AP (Andhra Pradesh)”. Some Congress MPs, also held up Telugu placards with the same message, but did not get up from their seats.
Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, son of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, also joined them but was silently standing near his seat.
Irrespective of party affiliations, there was a clear division between MPs from Telangana and other regions of the states.
The votaries for a united Andhra Pradesh were countered by MPs from the Telangana region, including from the Congress and the TDP, waving placards stating “Jai Telangana”.
“Don’t show placards. Please don’t introduce such things in the house,” Meira Kumar had said amid the noisy protests earlier.
She urged the MPs to maintain the sanctity and order of the house. “There is certain sanctity to (the) house. This is breach of sanctity. Please observe the sanctity.”
Amid the din in the pre-lunch session, 28 papers on different issues were laid on the table in a span of 15 minutes. Chaos ruled the house during this period and the MPs who tabled the papers were not even audible.