By IANS
Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh assembly Monday witnessed chaotic scenes after Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy launched a personal attack on opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, leaving the house stunned.
The house suspended protesting TDP members on two occasions during the day.
The chief minister made a scathing attack on the TDP president during a heated debate on the issue of mining lease to Obulapuram Mining Corp (OMC) owned by Y.S.R Reddy's friend and the arrest of TDP leaders in Anantapur district.
YSR, as the chief minister is known, was making clarifications on the opposition's allegations when Naidu tried to intervene.
The chief minister refused to yield and made a remark in Telugu while angrily gesticulating at Naidu. "I will expose you in such a way that you will repent having been born to your mother," he said, and repeated it when Naidu and TDP legislators protested.
Although YSR and Naidu have been bitter political rivals for a long time, the TDP president was taken aback. The opposition legislators trooped into the well of the house and demanded an apology from the chief minister.
Amid the heated exchange of words between treasury and opposition benches, YSR requested Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy to expunge any remark that he finds "unparliamentary". Following the uproar, the speaker adjourned the house till evening.
Later, talking to newsmen, Naidu said he was hurt by the chief minister's remarks. "All members in the house have mothers. Has anybody been born without a mother," asked Naidu, who was chief minister from 1995 to 2004.
Expressing his shock and dismay over the remarks, Naidu said they were unprovoked and uncivilized. "My only mistake is that I am trying to expose the corruption this government is indulging in," he said.
As soon as the house re-assembled for the evening session, TDP members stalled the proceedings demanding an apology from the chief minister for the insulting remarks against Naidu.
Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy then suspended 13 TDP legislators for the day. The marshals were called to physically lift the suspended members out of the house.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) staged a walk out in protest against Y.S.R. Reddy's attitude. Other opposition parties like the Communist Party of India (CPI), Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also took exception to the chief minister's remark.
Protesting against YSR's remark, TDP activists took to the streets in the state capital and other parts of the state and set afire YSR effigies.
Earlier, clarifying the issue in the house, YSR said it was Naidu's government that had given iron ore mining lease to OMC, owned by G. Janardhan Reddy, a member of the Karnataka legislative council, in 2002.
The chief minister said the police arrested TDP leaders as they were proceeding to the mining area without permission and in violation of prohibitory orders. He said Janardhan Reddy was ready to facilitate a visit by the TDP delegation but wanted the party to wait for his return from China.
The issue of alleged police "highhandedness" against TDP leaders rocked the house as soon as it met for the day. The speaker suspended Naidu and 20 other TDP legislators from the question hour for stalling the assembly's proceedings.
The speaker also suspended 13 TRS legislators on another charge.
Though the TDP has 45 legislators in the 294-member assembly, most were in Anantapur to protest against the arrest of their colleagues Saturday when they were going to OMC.