Chandrababu Naidu and 13 other TDP MLAs suspended from AP assembly for a day

The winter sessions of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, which commenced on 30 November, have witnessed the house’s first suspension orders. Opposition leader, N Chandrababu Naidu and 13 other members of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) were suspended for a day by Speaker Tammineni Seetaram as they staged a protest in front of the Speaker’s podium, thereby stalling the proceedings.

The incident occurred, on Monday, during a short discussion on agriculture in the House after Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister, Kurasala Kanna Babu, made a statement. TDP deputy leader, Nimmala Ramanaidu was allowed to speak later but he faced constant counter-attack from the treasury benches. On the occasion, Mr Ramanaidu raised the issue of flood relief for the damage caused due to Cyclone Nivar. Replying to the TDP member, AP Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, clarified that officials have been asked to complete the enumeration of losses by 15 December and pay compensation by 31 December in the form of input subsidy.

Opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu sought to counter the Chief Minister but was denied the opportunity. Things soon turned sour when the TDP members expressed resentment for not letting Mr Naidu speak during the session. Following this, the opposition legislators, including the TDP Chief, sat on the floor near the Speaker’s podium.

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Tammineni Seetaram, requested the opposition members to return to their seats but to no avail. The Andhra Pradesh Minister for I&PR, Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani), introduced the motion to call out the suspensions of 14 members from the house for one day. Following the proposal, the Speaker suspended the 14 TDP legislators including N Chandrababu Naidu.