Decorum of AP legislative houses gone to dogs

Wednesday witnessed high drama in Andhra Pradesh State Assembly and Legislative Council. The dance of democracy was witnessed with curiosity by all as the tussle for disposal of the two Bills, AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Bill, 2020 and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020 was on. In the process, certain unprecedented acts took place in both the Houses.

In Assembly, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy rightly lashed at the TDP MLAs for rushing to the podium and said they should be sent out of the House with the help of marshals. What was surprising was that the marshals were called in and members were sent out without suspending them from the House. Normally the marshals are called in when the members are suspended from the service of the House and when they refuse to leave the Assembly or Council. Marshals taking out members without them getting suspended was a new precedent set up by the AP Assembly.

On the other hand, in Council, about 20 Ministers rushed to the podium of the Chairman and demanded that the Bills be put to vote and opposed the move to send them to select committee. The Chief Minister who was right in lambasting the TDP members and saying that they cannot disturb the House or behave like street rowdies should also ensure that the Ministers set an example by showing utmost restraint and uphold the decorum of the legislature.

As per the Constitution, Ministers who are not members of the upper House can attend the proceedings when their subject is being discussed or when they have to move a Bill or answer to some discussion. But in this case, barring two, all other Ministers were MLAs. Even considering the fact that they have a right to be in the House when discussion was taking place, all of them rushing to the podium and protesting is something which was never seen either in Parliament or any State Assembly. The Ministers have a right to make their point and explain the rule position but going to podium certainly cannot be accepted. It is time the Chief Minister takes a serious view of this and ensure that both the ruling party and Opposition behave in a decent manner and uphold the decorum of the legislative bodies.

It was also shocking that both on Tuesday and Wednesday the live telecast was stopped in Council. Reason given was technical glitch. Again, this is something that cannot be accepted. Assembly has a team of experts who can fix technical glitch in shortest possible time.