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Furore over Indira mask
The Congress and the TDP MPs were engaged in an unseemly spat as TDP MP N Siva Prasad sported a mask of Indira Gandhi to make a point to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. His act incensed Congress benches led to a sharp exchange of words between the Congress and the TDP MPs.
- TDP MP N Siva Prasad wears Indira Gandhi’s mask to taunt Sonia
- He asks why Sonia reversed Indira’s decision to keep AP united
- Cong MPs from AP take serious exception to his behaviour
- Sandeep Dikshit dares him to settle the issue outside House
- This enrages TDP MPs who serve a notice for privilege motion
New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Congress and the TDP MPs were engaged in an unseemly spat as TDP MP N Siva Prasad sported a mask of Indira Gandhi to make a point to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. His act incensed Congress benches led to a sharp exchange of words between the Congress and the TDP MPs.
According to the TDP MPs, Telangana Congress MPs Madhu Yashki Goud and Ponnam Prabhakar were joined by Sandeep Dikshit of Congress in targeting the TDP MPs. Sandeep Dikshit said Ponnam Prabhakar had translated for him the remarks made by Siva Prasad at him. “All that I told the TDP MP was why use the precincts of the Lok Sabha for such exchanges. Come out and we can talk it out,” he said.
But the TDP Parliamentary Party leader, Nama Nageswara Rao, said the remarks of Dikshit constitute an insult to the Telugu people. Strongly criticising and condemning the behavior of the Congress MPs, Rao said: “It is very unfortunate that the Congress MPs behaved the way they did with the TDP MPs in a language unbecoming of them. We will issue a Notice under the SC Atrocities Prevention Act, as the TDP MP is a Dalit and we will also give a Notice for Privilege Motion.”
The Seemandhra Congress MPs led by L Rajagopal took a strong exception to the manner in which the TDP MPs sought to insult late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Rao later addressed a letter to Speaker Meira Kumar, forwarding the complaint he received from Siva Prassad. Rao said in the letter, “I regret to inform you the behavior of the members belonging to the Congress Party, degrading the decorum of this House. I request you to take a severe action against such members, in order to avoid repetition of similar behavior by any other member.”
Rao said that Dikshit’s remarks constitute an insult to the Telugu people also. Earlier, the Seemandhra Congress MPs led by L Rajagopal took a strong exception to the manner in which the TDP MPs sought to insult late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “It is totally unacceptable,” he said. Siva Prasad, sporting the mask of Indira Gandhi, addressed Sonia Gandhi as “daughter-in-law” and asked why Sonia reversed her decision to keep Andhra Pradesh united.
Earlier, dressing up as Lord Krishna, Siva Prasad had approached Sonia Gandhi and asked her to mediate between Telangana and Seemandhra. He had also recently brought a whip into the House demanding justice. Siva Prasad said the reason he wore the mask of Indira Gandhi was to tell the government that she had opposed bifurcation of the state in the past, honoring the public sentiment and majority opinion. It was also to convey the message that Indira Gandhi had again respected the people’s point of view and re-appointed N T Rama Rao as the Chief Minister when he was backstabbed by N Bhaskar Rao in 1984.
The Telangana Congress MPs led by Ponnam Prabhakar later said it was unbecoming on the part of the TDP MPs to behave such a way in Parliament. Donning the mask of Indira Gandhi was unacceptable. Similarly, the language used by the TDPs was also in bad taste, he said.
