“Undemocratic”: Nandamuri Balakrishna on suspension of TDP MLAs from Andhra Pradesh Assembly

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India]: After Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLAs were suspended from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly yesterday, TDP MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna said that it was undemocratic to suspend them for asking for justice.

Balakrishna, who was suspended from the Assembly along with 15 TDP MLAs on Thursday for their unruly behaviour, said that the ruckus had been started by Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders.

“The ruckus in the assembly had started by YSRCP leaders. We are fighting for justice. Chandra Babu Naidu was illegally arrested,” he said.

This came after the Assembly Speaker issued a warning to the TDP MLA for creating indiscipline in the house on Thursday.

Earlier yesterday, Angani Satya Prasad, a TDP MLA accused the Speaker of being ‘biased’.
Speaking to media, Angani Satya Prasad said that Speaker Tammineni Sitaram did not listen to the plea of the Opposition party in the state.

“Today in Assembly, we were asking about the undemocratic arrest of our leader Chandrababu Naidu. We are fighting to withdraw all the cases as they are illegal and also there is no trail about the money which has been told by CID and ACB… The Speaker is totally biased and he did not even listen to our plea…” Prasad said.

Prasad has been suspended for the rest of the session from the House.

The TDP MLAs were suspended from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Thursday for stalling the proceedings of the House to protest against the arrest of their party’s national president and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in an alleged skill development scam.

The Speaker announced the suspension of 15 MLAs of the main Opposition party from the House for one day.

He also suspended three members– P Keshav, A Satya Prasad and Sridhar Reddy for the rest of the session for showing disrespect to the Chair.

As soon as the session began on Thursday morning, the TDP members were on their feet demanding a debate on Naidu’s arrest.

When the Speaker rejected their adjournment motion, they trooped into the Well of the House and later surrounded the Speaker’s podium.

Carrying placards and raising slogans, the Opposition legislators insisted that the Speaker take up the issue of Naidu’s ‘illegal’ arrest.

Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on September 9 by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and was sent to judicial custody on September 10 for 14 days, till September 23, by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada in connection with an alleged Skill Development Corporation scam.

As per the CID, Naidu was the principal conspirator and “accused no 1″ in the Rs 371 crore skill development scam.

In its remand report, the CID has said that according to the investigation so far, the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Center, totalling Rs 371 crores.”