The Lok Sabha turned into a battlefield on Thursday with senior MPs scuffling as home minister Sushilkumar Shinde introduced the Telangana bill around noon. The UPA government struggled to table the bill as expelled Congress MP Lagadapati.
Rajagopal heightened the drama by spraying pepper spray in the air after being stopped from rushing to the Speaker's chair.
The pepper spray left several parliamentarians, staff and journalists coughing and teary-eyed. Many MPs tried to rush outside to avoid the smell and chemical effects of the spray.
TDP MP Venugopal Reddy broke the Speaker’s microphone, while TV reports also claimed he brandished a knife during House proceedings. The lawmaker, however, denied the allegation saying he was merely waving the Speaker's mic.
Marshalls stepped in immediately and tried to get medical help for Rajagopal and others while another MP was rushed to the nearby Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in an ambulance that had been kept on standby.
As reported by HT earlier, the entire visitor's gallery was cleared and even the Speaker's Gallery was kept vacant. Journalists were allowed in but only after a thorough security check.
Special ambulances, three in number, were brought to the Parliament complex to meet any emergency situation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi were absent in Lok Sabha when the government tried to table the bill.
Full Coverage: Telangana, the troubled state
Before the House assembled at noon, several Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Pallam Raju were seen trying to talk to rebel MPs to dissuade them from unruly behaviour.
Read: Turmoil in Rajya Sabha over Telangana
Meanwhile, normal life came to a grinding halt in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of Andhra Pradesh due to the shutdown called to protest a possible tabling of Telangana bill in Parliament on Thursday.
Buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) went off the roads in all 13 districts of Seemandhra, as the two regions are collectively called.
Read: 'MPs should introspect over functioning of House'
Shops, business establishments, petrol bunks and educational institutions remained closed in response to the shutdown call given by Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers (APNGOs) Association, which represents the government employees in Seemandhra.
YSR Congress party and Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders in Seemandhra have announced support to the shutdown.
Read: Congress expels 6 MPs
The government employees, who are on strike for last one week opposing the proposed bifurcation of the state, and activists of various parties took to streets since early Thursday. They laid siege to APSRTC depots to stop buses from coming out.
Raising slogans in support of united Andhra Pradesh, the protesters also staged road blockades on national and state highways, affecting the movement of vehicles.
Shutdown hit life in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Ongole, Tirupati, Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa and other towns in Seemandhra.
The Union cabinet met on Wednesday to clear, once again, the Andhra Pradesh reorganization bill. The cabinet had earlier cleared the bill for introduction in Rajya Sabha. RS entry for the bill would have kept it alive even if it fails to get passed during this session.
Read: Parliament disruptions make my heart bleed: PM
The government, however, has rejected the possibility of bringing a constitution amendment bill to create Telangana. Although it conceded that the legislation is a ‘money bill’ that requires introduction only in Lok Sabha, the union law ministry replied to Lok Sabha secretariat to explain why this bill does not require a constitutional amendment. The government now plans to pass the bill through a simple majority.
A government source also added, “Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh were created through an ordinary legislation and not by a constitutional amendment bill that requires two-third support in both Houses.”
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had recently met President Pranab Mukherjee and vice-president Hamid Ansari to appraise them on the Telangana Bill.
Source:hindustantimes
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| Telangana bill tabled in LS |
The pepper spray left several parliamentarians, staff and journalists coughing and teary-eyed. Many MPs tried to rush outside to avoid the smell and chemical effects of the spray.
TDP MP Venugopal Reddy broke the Speaker’s microphone, while TV reports also claimed he brandished a knife during House proceedings. The lawmaker, however, denied the allegation saying he was merely waving the Speaker's mic.
Marshalls stepped in immediately and tried to get medical help for Rajagopal and others while another MP was rushed to the nearby Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in an ambulance that had been kept on standby.
As reported by HT earlier, the entire visitor's gallery was cleared and even the Speaker's Gallery was kept vacant. Journalists were allowed in but only after a thorough security check.
Special ambulances, three in number, were brought to the Parliament complex to meet any emergency situation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi were absent in Lok Sabha when the government tried to table the bill.
Full Coverage: Telangana, the troubled state
Before the House assembled at noon, several Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Pallam Raju were seen trying to talk to rebel MPs to dissuade them from unruly behaviour.
Read: Turmoil in Rajya Sabha over Telangana
Meanwhile, normal life came to a grinding halt in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of Andhra Pradesh due to the shutdown called to protest a possible tabling of Telangana bill in Parliament on Thursday.
Buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) went off the roads in all 13 districts of Seemandhra, as the two regions are collectively called.
Read: 'MPs should introspect over functioning of House'
Shops, business establishments, petrol bunks and educational institutions remained closed in response to the shutdown call given by Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers (APNGOs) Association, which represents the government employees in Seemandhra.
YSR Congress party and Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders in Seemandhra have announced support to the shutdown.
Read: Congress expels 6 MPs
The government employees, who are on strike for last one week opposing the proposed bifurcation of the state, and activists of various parties took to streets since early Thursday. They laid siege to APSRTC depots to stop buses from coming out.
Raising slogans in support of united Andhra Pradesh, the protesters also staged road blockades on national and state highways, affecting the movement of vehicles.
Shutdown hit life in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Ongole, Tirupati, Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa and other towns in Seemandhra.
The Union cabinet met on Wednesday to clear, once again, the Andhra Pradesh reorganization bill. The cabinet had earlier cleared the bill for introduction in Rajya Sabha. RS entry for the bill would have kept it alive even if it fails to get passed during this session.
Read: Parliament disruptions make my heart bleed: PM
The government, however, has rejected the possibility of bringing a constitution amendment bill to create Telangana. Although it conceded that the legislation is a ‘money bill’ that requires introduction only in Lok Sabha, the union law ministry replied to Lok Sabha secretariat to explain why this bill does not require a constitutional amendment. The government now plans to pass the bill through a simple majority.
A government source also added, “Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh were created through an ordinary legislation and not by a constitutional amendment bill that requires two-third support in both Houses.”
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had recently met President Pranab Mukherjee and vice-president Hamid Ansari to appraise them on the Telangana Bill.
Source:hindustantimes
