Tags:
Journalism of Courage
HYDERABAD, MARCH 17: The entire Congress group was suspended from the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly today as it stalled the proceedings of the House and defied the Chair, demanding that the issue of cotton farmers8217; suicides be taken up immediately in spite of the decision of the Business Advisory Committee to hold a discussion on it later.
Congress members, holding aloft stems with cotton pods, swarmed the well of the House and did not heed repeated pleas by Speaker Y Ramakrishnudu to resume their places as the government had agreed to bring the necessary information before the House in the form of a note.
At one stage, Congress member D S Redya Naik pretended to strangulate himself with a stem while a couple of his colleagues tried to prevent him. This forced Legislative Affairs Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju to decry the 8220;drama8221; being enacted in the House and to move the motion suspending the Congress members. Before going ahead with the motion of suspension, the Speaker appealed to the Congressmembers to go back to their benches instead of storming the well of the House. They were suspended for the day. When they refused to leave, they had to be lifted bodily and carried out.
