Ruckus in Parliament as Cong MPs argue on Telangana

The fissures in the Congress over the Telangana issue came to the fore in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday when Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, along with some other party Members of Parliament, joined a Telugu Desam Party protest against the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.

Jaganmohan, son of late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, even stormed the well of the House, joining the TDP members who had trooped in there earlier. The TDP members were carrying placards saying 'We want united AP'.

Jaganmohan also borrowed a placard from them as they shouted slogans in support of a united Andhra Pradesh. Jaganmohan was joined by Congress members K Bapiraju, B Jhansi Lakshmi, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, K S Rao and some others.

This forced Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the House for 15 minutes as her pleas to restore order did not fructify.

Congress members from Telangana, including M Jagannath, countered them while hailing the government's announcement about carving out a separate Telangana state.

Trouble began as soon as TDP member K Narayana Rao was allowed by the Speaker to raise the issue of united Andhra Pradesh as an exception as he had not given notice.

As he pitched for a united Andhra Pradesh, Congress members from Telangana jumped to their feet to protest the matter.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal's attempts to persuade the Congress members to go back to their seats went in vain.

M Jagannath, a MLA from Nagarkurnool, was seen arguing vociferously with his party colleagues after the Speaker adjourned the House. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was present during the Question Hour, had left the House minutes before the trouble began.

When proceedings resumed at 12.30 pm, TDP members N Sivaprasad, N Kristappa, M Venugopal Reddy and K Narayana Rao trooped to the Well of the House once again, demanding that the government should reverse its decision to create Telangana.

As they chanted slogans in favour of 'united Andhra', Leader of the House and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee lost his temper and angrily asked TDP members to return to their seats. Mukherjee objected to the way TDP members were presenting their point of view.

The TDP members responded in an agitated tone, leading to a clash-like situation. They insisted that the government make a statement withdrawing the announcement made by Home Minister P Chidambaram about Telangana.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was seen pacifying Mukherjee. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, Sanjay Nirupam (Congress), Sudip Bandhopadhyay (Trinamool) and Revati Raman Singh (Samajwadi Party) were seen persuading the TDP members to resume their seats.

The Speaker wanted to know what the TDP members wanted as they were preventing Lalji Tandon (Bharatiya Janata Party) from speaking on Discussion on Supplementary Demands for Railways.

The TDP members said they should be allowed to explain what they wanted as 'people are dying' and 'there seems to be no government' in Andhra Pradesh.

"Don't lose your temper and observe decorum," the Speaker chided them and repeatedly assured them that she will give them a chance to say what they wanted after the discussion on Supplementary Demands for Railways.

Finally, the TDP members relented and returned to their seats and normalcy was restored.

Earlier, during Question Hour, the TDP members had vociferously opposed the creation of Telangana, leading to a brief disruption. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, senior BJP member M Venkaiah Naidu said the state was facing turmoil and charged the government with "playing with the sensitivity of the people".

"The central government has behaved in the most irresponsible and immature manner," Niadu said, adding that the leaders of ruling party were making provocative statements He said the BJP was committed to separate Telangana and there was no going back on the issue.

The state assembly was not able to function and the ruling party was divided, Naidu said, demanding that the government should take the House into confidence.