No keeping quiet

New Delhi/Hyderabad: For the second day on Tuesday, MPs from Andhra Pradesh staged vociferous protests in both the houses of Parliament as well as outside seeking a better and fair deal for the state in the national budget which forced the government into making a statement on what it intended to do to assuage the ruffled feelings of the people over meagre allocations.

As soon as both the houses met, the members barged into the well of the house and kept raising slogans. In Lok Sabha, holding placards, they stood at the podium, which annoyed Speaker Sumitra Majajan who asked them to return to their seats. But the MPs would not listen to her and continued with sloganeering for specific assurances. Though Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananta Kumar rose to his feet and tried to placate their frayed nerves, he did not meet with much success.

He said he understood the sensitivity of the issues that the TDP and other members of the House from AP were raising and that the Centre would look into all of them. Even as he was speaking, the MPs kept raising shouting at the top of their voices.

The YSRC held protests separately in the well of the House. The proceedings of the lower house were adjourned for a brief while as sloganeering made it impossible for the Speaker to conduct the business of the House. Even Question Hour was disrupted. Holding placards, they raised slogans – ‘We want justice’, ‘Andhra ke dard ko samjh lo, samjhlo’, ‘we demand special status for AP’ and ‘announce railway zone now’.

The MPs resumed their protest as soon as the Speaker asked Congress member Mallikharjun Kharge to speak on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address. When they did not heed her, an angry Mahajan asked them why they were not listening to her even though she had been asking them to resume seats since morning as business of the House also should continue. Congress member Jyotiraditya Scindia wanted to know why the Prime Minister who was in the House was not saying anything on the issue.

Kharge trying to take the wind out of the sails of the TDP members said that their protest was government sponsored since TDP is part of NDA. He however said that the demands were genuine and only the protest was not and therefore the Centre should concede the demands.

Later in the evening speaking on the motion of thanks to President’s address, TDP leader in Lok Sabha Thota Narasimham said that unless all the projects promised in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 were sanctioned to the state, there was no question of calling off the agitation. "We will not keep quiet," an angry Narasimham said.