DK’s remarks roil TRS

Hyderabad: Telangana State Assembly was thrown into a bedlam following heated arguments and snide remarks between a TRS minister and a former Congress minister during question hour on Tuesday. After Minister for Panchayat Raj and Information Technology K T Rama Rao replied in negative to a question of Congress member and former Minister D K Aruna whether there was any proposal for construction of a bridge over the Krishna river from Gurramgada island to Rangapur in Mahabubnagar district, the latter insisted for postponing the question since the subject related to the Irrigation Ministry.

The IT Minister tried to convince the Congress member that the subject matter raised by her would be taken up with the minister concerned and necessary action would be taken after consultations with the member. However, the Congress member remained unrelenting and persisted in her demand for postponement of the question. Another Congress member G Chinna Reddy, also a former minister, who also hailed from Mahabubngar district, supported the contention of the woman member.

As both the Congress members stuck to their guns for postponement of the question, a TRS member quipped as to what the Congress members were doing when they served as ministers in the erstwhile Congress regime. Irritated by the remark of the TRS member, the Congress member Aruna lost her cool and asked the member to shut up. She quipped that the party which has not provided a berth to a woman in the cabinet, has no moral right to talk about others.

This triggered off a ruckus in the House as the ruling party members were on their feet and vociferously protested and demanded an apology. As a senior member of the House and who served as minister in the past, the behaviour of the Congress member was demeaning the dignity of the House, the ruling party members contended.

The Minister for IT pointed out that despite the outburst of the woman member, the government was trying to be very understanding and cooperative in assuring necessary action with regard to the subject matter raised by the member. However, it was very unfortunate and regrettable that the member was indulging in irrelevant comments about not inclusion of a woman in the KCR cabinet, he observed.

Taking a serious view about the attitude and behaviour of the Congress member, KTR cautioned that such “dadagiri” and “bungalow politics” might work in her district and not here. This is not Mahabubnagar and we were also elected members and hence we cannot tolerate such “dadagiri”, he retorted.

Reacting sharply to the comments of the IT minister, the Congress member wrenched the mike and rushed to the podium protesting over the “insult” and degrading comments against a woman member. Other Congress members also rushed into the well and protested by raising slogans. The TRS members also tried to rush into the well of the House. Speaker Madhusudana Chary tried to pacify the members by stating that he would look into the footage and then take necessary action.