AP firing — Govt refuses to order judicial probe

As for the demand for a rollback of the tariff hike — the root cause for the violence — the Minister maintained that the government had upped the rates because it didn’t have a choice. “In any case, the government has agreed to set up a House Committee to study the tariff structure in various states. Let the panel complete its job and the government will consider the recommendations,” he said.

However, Goud did assure the members that he would examine the nature of the cases registered against MLA G Narsaiah, CPI state secretary S Sudhakar Reddy and 20 others, and take necessary action.

Dissatisfied with this, leader of Opposition Y S Rajasekhar Reddy said the government was not prepared to order a judicial inquiry for fear of getting exposed. Congress members then trooped out of the House. Echoing similar views, Majlis and CPM members followed suit.

Monday’s violent incidents in the state capital rocked the Assembly for the second consecutive day today as the Opposition insisted on an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge to ascertain the facts.

There was trouble right from the time the House met at 8.30 am with Congress members demanding that question hour be suspended and the discussion taken up right away. The ruling party felt the debate could be continued after question time.

Speaker K Pratibha Bharati made futile attempts to take up questions as Congress members rushed to the podium and indulged in slogan-shouting. Finally at 9.30 am, the Speaker closed the question hour and allowed the discussion.

Acrimonious scenes were witnessed during the debate as members from treasury and Opposition benches traded charges and verbal abuse. At one stage, TDP members accused Opposition leader Y S Rajasekhar Reddy of engineering communal riots in the Old city in 1990 to force the then chief minister M Channa Reddy to quit office.

Rajasekhar Reddy reiterated that he was prepared to accept any kind of punishment if the charges were proved. “The ruling party members appear to lack common sense. They have been in power for six years. They could have ordered any inquiry to prove the charges,” he said.

The Opposition leader, in turn, quoted some statements made by former chief minister N T Rama Rao castigating his son-in-law and present Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu after he (Rama Rao) was dethroned. This led to a furore in the House. Amidst the din, the Chief Minister intervened and advised members to confine to the subject instead of raising charges against individuals. He clarified that his differences with Rama Rao were well known and there was nothing to hide about his political life.

Congress members D Nagender and M V Mysoora Reddy, R Ravindranath Reddy (BJP) and TDP members Dadi Veerabhadra Rao and Prakash Reddy also participated in the debate.