Tempers run high, parliament disrupted again over Telangana

New Delhi (IANS): Both houses of parliament were disrupted for the sixth successive day Wednesday following noisy disruptions over the Telangana issue, with two MPs almost coming to blows in the Lok Sabha.

Both houses witnessed ugly scenes. In Lok Sabha, two parliamentarians nearly came to blows, as copies of official papers were torn and thrown in the air.

The Rajya Sabha also saw an AIADMK MP tearing official papers over the issue of Tamil fishermen, while others stationed near the chairman’s podium protested the proposed formation of Telangana.

There was chaos during the presentation of the interim rail budget in the Lok Sabha that forced Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge to cut short his speech.

The space near the speaker’s podium resembled a battle ground as members both favouring and opposing Telangana state shouted slogans and showed placards during the presentation of the interim rail budget.

The ruckus began soon after the house met at noon after an hour-long adjournment earlier due to noisy scenes over the Telanagana issue.

M. Jagannath of the Congress and N. Sivaprasad of the Telugu Desam Party nearly came to blows, but the clash was averted when other leaders, including Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal-United, Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress and Jagadambika Pal of the Congress intervened.

Four union ministers from Seemandhra – K.S. Rao, D. Purandeshwari, Chiranjeevi and K. Surya Prakash Reddy – also trooped near the speaker’s podium demanding a united Andhra Pradesh.

Ministers M. Pallam Raju and Kruparani Killi also supported them by standing in their seats.

The Rajya Sabha also witnessed disruptions over Telangana and other issues.

While the Congress and TDP members opposed formation of Telangana, the DMK and AIADMK raised the issue of the plight of Tamil fishermen.