Shifting of Volkswagon unit rocks AP House

Hyderabad, Mar 12: The Andhra Pradesh Assembly today witnessed heated exchanges between the ruling and opposition members over the shifting of proposed car manufacturing unit of the auto major Volkswagon to Pune, culminating in walk outs by TDP and BJP members.

The trouble started as soon as Industries Minister J Geetha Reddy, replying to a question, challenged the BJP floor leader G Kishen Reddy to prove that there was corruption in the agreement relating to transfer of Rs 11.67 crore to Vashista Wahan, a firm of the German auto major established to set up the car manufacturing unit at Visakhapatnam.

When the BJP leader offered to prove his charge, the minister asked the member to go with evidence to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which was probing the issue.

Dissatisfied with the Minister's reply, the BJP leader walked out of the House.

Utter pandemonium prevailed in the House after leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu allegedly cast aspersions on the chair after the latter withdrew the mike when the former levelled serious corruption charges and castigated the government for its failure to ensure that Volkswagon set up its unit in Andhra Pradesh. After heated exchanges, Mr Naidu offered to withdraw his remarks against Speaker K R Suresh Reddy before leading his party members out of the House on the issue.

Terming as uncharitable the opposition members allegation that the CBI as ''Congress Bureau of Investigation'', Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy maintained that it amounted to contempt of Supreme Court which had observed that the CBI was an independent investigating agency of the country.

The Congress Government had agreed for a CBI probe on any issue, including Volkswagon and Paritala Ravindra murder case in which his own son (Y S Jaganmohan Reddy) was being named, he said, adding on the other hand the TDP had tried to scuttle probes by the CBI into bomb blast case involving former TDP minister K Sivaprasada Rao and the judicial enquiry into Yeleru scam.

UNI