Council Pandemonium During Discussion on Governor’s Address

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council witnessed turmoil for the second consecutive day on Friday as YSR Congress members took to the presidential dais.

Shortly after the Council session began and Chairman Koyye Moshenu Raju opened the Question Hour, heated debates broke out over the issue of fee refunds.

Education minister Nara Lokesh stated that the YSR Congress government has kept nearly Rs 4,000 crore pending towards fee refund. Opposition leader Botsa Satyanaraya denied the accusation, saying, “We only kept two-quarters pending.”

He targeted the ruling party, claiming that it was promoting private educational institutions more while ignoring employees affiliated with state institutions. Lokesh, on the other hand, blamed the previous government and said that its policies caused nearly 12 lakh students to drop out of government schools.

When the Motion of Thanks was passed for the Governor’s address, the BJP MLCs praised the state government, citing Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s efforts to develop the state by bringing in huge investments. They cited the establishment of Google Data Center and Quantum Valley as opposition members continued to harass them.

Later, heated arguments took place at home. The opposition accused the ruling party of harassing YSRC leaders Ambati Rambabu and Jogi Ramesh and noted that the police remained a silent spectator even as the houses of these leaders were searched.

Lokesh reacted strongly to this and said that the government will not allow anyone to harm the dignity of women. He expressed serious concern over Ambati Rambabu’s “malicious comments”.

Later, water resources minister Nimmala Ramanaidu spoke in the Governor’s address but the opposition continued to disrupt the hearing. The minister listed the social assistance programs successfully implemented in the state and said that many development projects were also taken up.

Ramanaidu targeted the previous government over social security pensions. He said it took the Jagan Reddy-led government five years to increase the pension from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. He said the current government had increased it to Rs 4,000 crore and even cleared three months’ worth of arrears.

The Council passed the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s speech amid noisy scenes.