YSRCP guns for scalps of Ganta, Narayana

​Amaravati: In an unprecedented manner in the history of the AP Assembly, the TD government with a comfortable majority in the House faced an uphill task while ensuring passage of the appropriation bill in the current budget session on Tuesday due to the ruckus created by the principal opposition of the YSRCP over the reported leakage of class SSC question paper.

The government was in a bind over passage of the Appropriation Bill before the commencement of the new financial year so as to be empowered to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Funds for meeting the expenditure during the year.

As there was no let-up in the noisy protests since the commencement of the question hour in the morning, Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu was seen earnestly appealing to the opposition members to cooperate with the treasury benches keeping in mind the importance of the bill.

A large number of government employees would be denied of their monthly salary due to be disbursed in the next three days for the month of March and the YSRC members should keep in mind the urgency of the bill and stop disrupting the proceedings, he urged.

The treasury benches continued to feel the heat of the 47-member strong opposition in the 175-member house till the end of the session. It was overtly visible when the Legislative Affairs minister moved the bill and got it ratified amidst the din.

The YSRCP members stormed into the well and continued with their protest with noisy slogans for well over 6-7 hours, demanding the dismissal of Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana and HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, holding them responsible for the question paper leakage. As the two ministers happened to be close relatives, the YSRC members alleged that the HRD minister helped in leakage of question papers by misusing his power to favour Narayana who runs a chain of schools and colleges with his name as suffix.

Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy was displaying the daily situation report (DSR) purportedly delivered by the Commissioner, School Education which confirmed the alleged question paper leakage in a school owned by Narayana in Nellore district on March 24. When he sought to speak on the issue after the adjournment motion moved by his party on the issue was disallowed by Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao. The speaker adjourned the House thrice in the fond hope of restoring order but in vain.

The Legislative Affairs Minister said the government is ready to hold a discussion exclusively on the topic on March 30 and the opposition members can speak during the discussion. As the din refused to die down, the bills such as the Appropriation Bill, the Dentist (Andhra Pradesh) Bill 2017 and four other bills were passed without discussion.

Meanwhile, the statements of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Nidu and his Ministers on the issue lacked harmony and coherence. Ministers P Narayana, Palle Raghunadh Reddy and K Atchennaidu told reporters at media point that there was no chance of leaking the 10th class examination question paper while Chief Minister told the Assembly that the fraud took place on March 25 when students were taking science exam in Nellore district and Government begins a probe. Interestingly, Narayana also dismissed the allegation of paper leakage is baseless, notwithstanding the CM’s statement.

The CM unfolded the notorious story of question paper leakage in the Assembly. A peon supplying drinking water to the students at the exam centre took a screenshot of the question paper and leaked it through the Whatsapp, he explained. The police have seized the mobile phones of the peon and invigilator and commenced investigation, he stated in the Assembly.