Hyderabad: The desecration and destruction of statues of Telugu luminaries by Telangana protagonists on Tank Bund road caused a furor in Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Friday as irate Telugu Desam Party members stormed the Speaker's podium demanding an immediate discussion on the issue.
Proceedings of the House were adjourned twice as Telugu Desam Party members from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions strongly denounced the "vandalism" by separatist elements on Thursday and held the state government responsible for the destruction of statues.
The Congress legislators from these regions also strongly condemned the incident. TDP and Congress MLAs from the regions came to the Assembly sporting black badges in protest against the destruction of statues.
"It's a matter of great concern for everyone of us. We all feel it's an assault on Telugu pride. We should strongly condemn such incidents in unison," officiating Speaker Nadendla Manohar said and appealed to the agitated TDP members to let the House transact business.
As the Telugu Desam Party MLAs did not heed, Manohar adjourned the House for half an hour. The TDP members persisted with their demand even after the House re-assembled following the first adjournment.
Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu said the government too strongly condemned the destruction of statues of Telugu legends.
The officiating Speaker said the Home Minister would make a statement on the issue after the Question Hour.
But the TDP members remained unrelenting, forcing adjournment of the House for 15 minutes for the second time.
Earlier on Friday, the TDP MLAs from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions visited the Tank Bund on Hussain Sagar and inspected the destruction caused by a violent mob of Telangana supporters.
"The Kiran Kumar Reddy government is the first culprit. It has miserably and grossly failed to stop the mindless destruction and desecration of statues of the great Telugu legends," TDP senior MLAs P Ashoka Gajapati Raju, Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar, Payyavula Keshav, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Pattipati Pulla Rao and others said. They said the Kiran Kumar government lost the right to continue in office.
"The government should step down immediately," the TDP MLAs demanded and alleged that the statues were destroyed only to foment regional animosity among people.
"It was all done with a well-orchestrated plan. The government totally failed to prevent this. It is the main culprit while TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao and Joint Action Committee leader Kodandaram were equally responsible," the TDP MLAs said.
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