Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday accepted the resignations of 10 Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MLAs who quit in protest against the seven-point terms of reference for the Srikrishna Committee appointed by the Centre to look into the Telangana state issue.
With this, the number of resignations has mounted to 12 as the Speaker had earlier accepted the resignations of two MLAs, one from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the other from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TRS MLAs were literally forced by the all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) which had announced that MLAs should prove their loyalty to the cause of a separate state by submitting their resignations.
However, it is a big blow for TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao who had wanted all the 119 Telangana MLAs of various parties to resign together, forcing a constitutional crisis. But, neither the TDP nor Congress MLAs joined him on this issue.
The Speaker accepted the resignations an hour before the Assembly session started on a stormy note, with Governor ESL Narasimhan?s maiden address to the joint sitting of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council being disrupted by slogan-shouting Congress MLAs from Telangana and TDP legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. The Telangana Congress MLAs shouted slogans and displayed placards against the Centre?s terms of reference while the TDP MLAs raised pro-united Andhra slogans.
In fact, when the Governor arrived at the Assembly, several TDP MLAs from Telangana region staged a sit-in in support of Telangana state and obstructed his way. They were removed by security personnel and marshalls.
The TDP MLAs of Telangana region decided to boycott the Governor?s session, saying he was the Centre?s representative. TDP leader and Nagarkurnool MLA Dr Nagam Janardhan Reddy said the TDP legislators from the Telangana region boycotted the Governor?s address as the terms of reference for the Srikrishna Committee were not in their favour.
Although the Congress MLAs marched out of the House to stage a dharna in front of the Mahtma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises, the Governor continued his address and said it was the responsibility of the elected members to ensure security of life and property of the people.
Violence on Osmania University campus
Hyderabad: Violence broke out again in the Osmania University where students clashed with the police on Sunday night. While the All Students Joint Action Committee said they were protesting against the Centre?s terms of reference for the Srikrishna Committee, the police said the students ?provoked the police and when a clash occurred, they called mediapersons?.