Matters between the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party came to a head today with 25 TDP MLAs being suspended for creating an uproar and ‘obstructing proceedings’ in the House.The legislators were protesting the purchase of assigned land by a relative of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in the West Godavari district. The TDP also organised two dharnas to protest the alleged land grab by YSR’s brother, Vivekananda Reddy.The first dharna was held at Indira Park. TDP MP and Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Committee, T Devender Goud, along with about 20 other MLAs and MPs, led the protest. Among other things, the protestors demanded that spending on colleges be increased. The second protest was held in front of the house of Kadapa MP Vivekananda Reddy. It was led by MLAs E Dayakar Rao and Karunam Balram Krishnamurthy with another 20 MLAs. They alleged that YSR’s brother had “grabbed land from the Gurukul Trust” to build his house. “Small huts that were built on the land had been demolished by the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, but when they came back to demolish more houses, they were driven back and beaten up,” said a TDP spokesperson. Prior to the dharnas, the TDP MLAs created a furore within the House. The members wanted to take up an adjournment motion on increasing corruption, and the speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes. Later, the opposition disrupted proceedings over the alleged purchase of assigned lands in Denduluru in West Godavari district. Opposition members waved copies of local newspapers and demanded action against the Chief Minister. But speaker KR Suresh Reddy disallowed the demand, stating that personal allegations could not be taken up in the form of an adjournment motion, as it had already been disallowed. However, TDP members refused to step down and did not allow proceedings to continue. The Speaker then directed Legislative Affairs Minister K Rosaiah to move a resolution seeking suspension of the TDP members present in the House, and barring opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu. Marshals then escorted them, some forcefully, out of the House. The suspended members said the action was undemocratic and was intended to muzzle the opposition.
