Mayhem on Day 1 in Assembly

Hyderabad: In what is being seen as the darkest day in the annals of the Telangana Assembly, Opposition Congress members targeted Governor ESL Narasimhan, with one of them even throwing his headphones at him in a fit of a rage, unmindful of the fact that he was trampling on the honour of one of the key institutions of democracy.

As the Governor began his address to both the Houses of Assembly and Council, the Opposition Congress members rose to their feet and began trying to shout him down with slogans. Even as some of them tore up the copies of the address of the Governor and kept throwing the pieces at him, Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, shouting at the top of his voice, removed his head phones and threw at the Governor.

But Venkata Reddy missed his target as the headphones hit the Council Chairman K Swamy Goud, injuring his right eye. Though Goud did not feel any pain or discomfort initially, after the Governor left the Assembly premises, he complained of uneasiness in his eye. He was then shifted to Sarojini Devi Hospital for examination and treatment.

Swamy Goud said that the doctors at the hospital told him the impact of the head phones might have damaged either cornea or retina. “I will know the extent of damage tomorrow,” he said.

He said headphones were hurled at him twice – once when the address was going on and the second time when the address was over, and all were standing as national anthem was about to be played. When he suffered injury, he went out and Deputy Speaker of Assembly Padma Devender Reddy followed him and later took him to the Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital.

But Komatireddy denied attacking either Governor or Chairman of the Council. "I was only registering my protest," he said and insisted that the headphones did not hit Swamy Goud and therefore the question of his eye being injured does not arise.

“It is all a well-orchestrated political drama to evoke sympathy and paint the Congress as villain. I saw Goud walking out of the Assembly without any trace of pain. Then suddenly he was moved to the hospital in a wheel chair,” he said and declared that he would resign to his membership of the Assembly if it is established that his cornea has been damaged.

Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao compared the attack on the Governor with the one that took place on Parliament in the past.

The Congress members acted as though they were terrorists, he defended similar action by the TRS members in 2011 against Narasimhan as it was like the struggle of Bhagat Singh for the sake of the nation.

Though it is obvious that the Opposition parties stall the proceedings and interrupt the address of the Governor or the Chief Minister as the case may be, but Monday's behaviour of the Congress came under fire from several sections since they did not even bother whether they were inflicting physical injury.

The incident reminded one the treatment meted out to the Governor as he addressed the joint session of Assembly and Council in 2011 when the TDP and TRS members acted in a similar fashion, alleging that the state and the Centre had adopted anti-Telangana stand.

The Budget session opened on a stormy note as the slogan-shouting Congress MLAs from the opposition began creating a ruckus as the Governor began listing out the achievements of the state government.

Five minutes after Governor Narasimhan began his address, Congress members armed with placards, started shouting slogans, charging it with being insensitive to farmers' suicides and the distress in agriculture sector.

The Congress members tried to rush into the well to stage a protest in front of the Speaker's podium demanding the state government to provide minimum support price (MSP) to the struggling farmers in the state and address the crisis in the state's agriculture sector. However, they were physically prevented from doing so by the marshals who outnumbered the Congress members.

The unfazed Governor completed reading the 24-page address without a break for about an hour while the protesting Congress members held up placards that highlighted the farmer’s woes and the demand for MSP.

The real trouble began when Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Geetha Reddy, D K Aruna and a few others tore up copies of the Governor's address and throw them at the podium. In this attempt, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy threw the headphones towards the podium which hit Swami Goud who was sitting in the chair next to the Governor.

Initial reports from the hospital sources claim that the headphone hit Swami Goud's eye resulted in an injury to the cornea. And, doctors advised him to get admitted as an inpatient for a 24-hour observation.
Later, Telangana Assembly Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary ordered an internal probe into the incident in which Swamy Goud received eye injury.

He instructed Assembly Secretary Dr V Narasimha Charyulu to prepare a report on the incident with video evidences. Based on the report, Speaker is likely to take disciplinary action against those who were responsible for the trouble in the House. The possibility of referring the issue to the Committee on Ethics is also under examination.

“As per Rule 288 of the Rules of Procedure and conduct of Business in the Telangana Legislative Assembly, the Committee will examine unethical conduct of a member both within or outside the House,” Assembly authorities said, adding that video footage will also be analysed with the help of forensic experts before a report is finalised.

The Government also took serious note of the incident in the BAC presided over by the Speaker. Deputy Chief Minister K Srihari and AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi raised the issue of attack on the Chair by the opposition Congress legislators and demanded action against those responsible.

On the insistence of the MIM leader, Speaker assured the members to take action against the legislators who went on the rampage in the House. BJP floor leader G Kishan Reddy also expressed serious concern over the incident.