AP Council adjourned sans passing Appropriation Bill

Amaravati: The AP government is staring into the face of a Constitutional crisis having failed in securing the Appropriation Bill passed in the Legislative Council which got adjourned sine die without even its introduction on Wednesday.

This means that the state cannot draw money from the exchequer and pay salaries or pensions. The situation arose as the ruling party felt that they should first dispose of the controversial bills which according to the Opposition are sub judice. The option now, experts say, is that the government will have to prorogue the House and issue an ordinance.

In fact, at one stage Minister Vellampalli Srinivas taking objection to Nara Lokesh of the TDP recording the proceedings on his video camera rushed towards the Opposition benches. TDP member Bida Ravichander tried to stop him. This led to both sides coming to near clashes. Amidst this scenario, Deputy Chairman Reddy Subramaniam adjourned the House sine die.

The Council had witnessed ruckus since the introduction of these Bills. This led to a verbal dual amongst the members with the Deputy Chairman of the Council opposing the move of the ruling party. He kept on insisting that the Money Bills should be introduced first and get cleared as per the norms. When Finance Minister Buganna Rajendranath Reddy was quoting the rules and precedents, the Deputy Chairman observed that the government had withdrawn even his security. In such a case, where are the precedents and practices, the Deputy Chairman said, giving two options to the government –introduction of the Appropriation Bill first and if they are not willing for that then they should discuss the admissibility of the controversial bills.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Yanamala Ramakrushnudu got up to intervene and said the Money Bill was a Constitutional obligation and hence it should be introduced first and the others could be taken up later. However, the Finance Minister kept on maintaining that the CRDA Bill and Decentralisation of Development Bill should be taken up first as per the norms. The House had to be adjourned for 15 minutes at this point, but the tempers did not cool down.