YSR land issue rocks House, 46 Oppn members suspended

Hyderabad, Dec 19 (UNI) Forty-six members belonging to the main Opposition TDP, as also the TRS, CPI(M) and BJP, were suspended for the Question Hour today as they stalled the proceedings of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, demanding the resignation and prosecution of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on the assigned land issue.

As soon as the House assembled for the day, the Opposition members stalled the proceedings in a bid to mount pressure on the Chief Minister to step down.

The Speaker initially adjourned the Assembly for 15 minutes and as the members continued to plunge the House into state of pandemonium, he suspended the Opposition party members.

The suspended members included Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu.

Soon after the suspension, the stir spilled on to the streets with members of the four Opposition parties taking out a joint protest march to the Raj Bhavan and submitting a memorandum to Governor Rameshwar Thakur's Secretary seeking dismissal of the Rajasekhara Reddy Government for ''illegally'' holding large tracts of lands assigned to the poor.

Claiming the Chief Minister had allegedly violated seven pieces of legislation governing lands and suppressed information on his land holdings before the Election Commission, Mr Naidu told mediapersons outside the Raj Bhavan that ''we will continue the stir till Dr Reddy step down and subject himself to prosecution for violating various land laws.'' The CPI(M) Floor Leader N Narasimhaiah said the Chief Minister had no option but to step down and face legal action after his own admission that his family members were in possession of lands allegedly in violation of the law.

The opposition parties also pressed for constitution of an all-party committee to survey lands owned by the Chief Minister as also his family.

Meanwhile, Congress Chief N Kiran Kumar Reddy told mediapersons that the Opposition was obstructing the proceedings only to avoid a debate on a financial company owned by a newspaper baron which was served notices by the Reserve Bank of India for receiving deposits from people without permission.

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UNI SM/JRK KD VV1833