FM's reference to N T R ouster Crcates Uproar in Assembly

eHyderabad, Mar 1 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh Assembly today witnessed uproarious scenes when Finance Minister K Rosaiah took a dig at TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu and his party colleagues for ''dethroning'' TDP founder and former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao.

TDP members were on their feet, taking strong exception to Mr Rosaiah's reference to the ouster of the actor-turned-politician by Mr Naidu, while replying to the debate on the state Budget.

Irked by Mr Rosaiah's reference, TDP Legislature Party Secretary E Dayakar Rao recalled that Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as also Mr Rosaiah had been out of the Congress for sometime.

Mr Rosaiah retorted by saying he was not denying that he had left the Congress for a brief period. But he had not ditched the party or its supremo at any point of time, he added.

The Minister plunged the House into peels of laughter by recalling TDLP Deputy leader T Devender Goud's description of himself (Mr Rosaiah) as a ''big clerk.'' ''I am proud to be a big clerk. Even though Chief Ministers have changed, I have continued to hold the Finance portfolio and won confidence of all of them, giving them advice on financial mtters,''he said.

Speaker K R Suresh Reddy restored order, asking both the ruling and the Opposition not to deviate from the subject of discussion.

The Finance Minister utilised the opportunity to criticise the previous TDP government for allocating large tracts of land to a firm in the name of promotion of sports and importing sportspersons from other states to boost the state's medal tally in sporting events.

''We will sell all such lands to boost the state's revenue by over Rs 8000 crore to fund development projects and welfare schemes,'' he said when Mr Goud wanted to know how the government was going to raise such a big amount.

Former Minister and TRS Legislator N Narasimha Reddy interrupted, saying, ''Don't sell away our Telangana lands.'' When the Finance Minister announced that regional development boards would be set up in the first quarter of new fiscal, Mr Reddy again interrupted, saying, ''we want only a separate state.'' ''Let us see'' he said, adding, the party had posed the issue to Congress President Sonia Gandhi for a decision.

UNI