By IANS,
Hyderabad : A brief monsoon session of Andhra Pradesh legislature, beginning here Monday, is likely to be stormy with the opposition parties gearing up to take on the Congress government on various issues.
By walking out of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting Sunday, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has given a clear indication of what is in store.
The BAC meeting chaired by assembly Speaker N. Manohar decided that the session would last for five days against four days announced earlier. The government agreed to extend it by one day, though TDP demanded that the session be held for at least 20 days.
TDP leader G. Muddukirshnama Naidu voiced concern over the decreasing number of days of assembly sessions. He alleged that the government is running away from debate on the real issues faced by people.
Government chief whip G. Venkatramna Reddy, however, said TDP was not serious about a debate on issues.
YSR Congress party wanted 15-day session to discuss various problems faced by people. YSR party honorary president Y.S. Vijayalakshmi told reporters after the meeting that there is no question of merger with Congress party.
“People voted us in by-elections. Why should we merge with Congress,” asked the widow of late chief minister Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy.
This is the first session after YSR party won 15 seats in by-elections to 18 assembly seats in June. With 17 seats in 294-member assembly, YSR party is the second largest group along with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
With the demand for separate statehood to Telangana region gathering momentum once again, TRS declared that it would not allow the assembly to function unless it passes a resolution seeking separate state.
The BAC decided to have debate on issues like fee re-imbursement, farmers’ problems, electricity shortage and drought situation. In view of the campaign being run by various groups for total utilization of funds for sub-plan for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, the government has come forward to have special debate on the issue.
The speaker also announced during BAC meeting that a statue of B. R. Ambedkar would be installed in the assembly premises.