AP Assembly Day 2: Ruckus prevails over Tidco Housing scheme, TDP MLA suspended

VIJAYAWADA: The proceedings of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly was disrupted for the second day on Tuesday, with the Opposition members insisting on the debate over the non-allotment of houses constructed under the Tidco Housing scheme by the previous TDP government.

Speaker T Sitaram was visibly upset over the continuous sloganeering by the TDP legislators at the well of the House disrupting the proceedings. At one point, he asked the treasury bench to move a motion to suspend the members disrupting the house.

Legislative Affairs Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy moved a motion to suspend TDP deputy floor leader Nimmala Rama Naidu. When he refused to leave the House, the Speaker warned him of serious action. He was later suspended for the day

Earlier, with TDP members still trying to corner the government over the Crop Insurance issue, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy reiterated that crop insurance claims for Kharif 2019 will be paid on December 15 as decided by the State Cabinet.

He said as announced before, Amul milk procurement will commence on December 2, distribution of livestock on December 10, insurance claims distribution on December 15, Land survey on December 21, and distribution of D Form pattas for house sites to poor on December 25.

Finding fault with claims of TDP that the insurance premium was not paid, Jagan said it is insignificant if we pay the premium or not, when we pay the premium, he said all they have to know is that the insurance amount will be credited to the farmers’ accounts on December 15.

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He said the government works on the credibility of the person at the helm of affairs and he is proud that today he can say the credibility of Jagan is such that people believe that when Jagan says anything, he will definitely do it. “That is my credibility. But, what is the credibility of Chandrababu Naidu? If he says anything, he will definitely not do it. That is Chandrababu Naidu,” he said.

Jagan said he never went back on his promises and in the last 18 months 90 per cent of the promises made in the manifesto were implemented and it earned trust among people and enhanced his credibility.

Objecting to continuous disruption of the house, the Chief Minister said it was not proper to disrupt the proceedings as there are several important bills that need to be tabled.  The Chief Minister observed that it looked like TDP members were not willing to discuss the Tidco Housing issue. 

“We already gave advertisements seeking a public opinion as to whether they wish to continue with the Tidco scheme of TDP or new housing scheme of our government. Reports indicate that hardly 10 people were in favor of Tidco housing,” he said

“As part of their conspiracy, they are pushing a Dalit ahead to lead the protest at the podium. Are they really humans? Today, they have 23 MLAs and in the next election, people will reduce them to 2 or 3. God will definitely teach them a lesson,” he said and asked the Speaker to use marshals and remove them from the House if they continue to disrupt the proceedings.

Earlier in the day, TDP members moved an adjournment motion on Tidco housing, but it was disallowed by the Speaker who said that the discussion on the issue was already part of the agenda. However, the TDP MLAs rushed into the well of the House, even as the Minister for Fisheries was speaking on the Andhra Pradesh Fish Feed (Quality Control) Bill 2020.