Suspended TRS members stage dharna

Hyderabad, Aug 30 (UNI) After 15 MLAs were suspended from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for the third day today, the TRS members staged a dharna outside the House.

The dharna by the suspended members created problem inside the premises as several MLAs could not enter the House through the entrance designated for them.

Legislator T Harish Rao, nephew of TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, and other MLAs inclduing S Rama Linga Reddy, blocked the entrance to the House.

The Marshals, who were called in initially, requested the TRS MLAs to end the dharna. Later, they physically removed them to clear the way into the Assembly.

Speaking to newspersons, party floor leader Dr G Vijaya Rama Rao and MLA Etela Ravinder said the Congress government, instead of giving a soothing touch to the Telangana people, was adding insult to them.

They said though they were for a discussion on the Telangana issue in the House but demanded that the government should agree for a resolution recommending the Centre to create a separate Telangana state.

The TRS leaders said though their ultimate aim was to achieve a separate statehood, they would organise agitations on problems like power supply and implementation of the 610 GO (which provides for repatriation of employees of other regions from Telangana).

Insisting that a resolution on Telangana should be part of the agenda before a debate on the issue could be taken up, the TRS leaders made it clear that they would stall the proceedings of the House even tomorrow, the concluding day of the present monsoon session of the Assembly.

TRS MLAs raised slogans calling upon the leaders from the coastal Andhra region to cooperate with them in their struggle for Telangana statehood.

UNI JRK AK KN1217