57 TDP legislators were on Thursday suspended after the opposition disrupted proceedings in Andhra Pradesh Assembly demanding resignation of state Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao on the issue of police firing on villagers opposing a power plant in Srikakulam district.
The TDP legislators were suspended for the day from the House as they repeatedly prevented the minister from reacting to the charges made against him and were forcibly removed by the marshals from the House.
The House was stuck in pandemonium for more than 25 minutes, as the TDP members refused to go out and resisted the move to evict them. A couple of TDP members ripped about eight mikes while they were being dragged out of the House.
Earlier, the opposition Telugu Desam and Praja Rajyam parties demanded payment of Rs 10 lakh as compensation each to the kin of those killed while the CPI demanded Rs 20 lakh. The government, however, announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of deceased.
The BJP and the CPI-M too strongly condemned the police firing. All the opposition parties also demanded a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the High Court into the incident. Initiating a discussion on the issue after state Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy made a statement on the firing incident, TDP deputy leader M Narasimhulu held Rao squarely responsible for the police firing.
"Dharmana has no right to continue as minister as he is solely responsible for the incident through his provocative statements. He should either step down or be dismissed from the Cabinet," Narasimhulu said. "Who gave you the right to shoot people to death," he questioned the government.
PRP deputy leader Bandaru Satyananda Rao also blamed the government over the firing incident and questioned the move to allow a private company to set up the thermal power plant when the locals were strongly opposing it. The police firing appeared to be a pre-planned step, he alleged.
CPI leader K Sambasiva Rao also lashed out at the Revenue Minister and demanded his resignation as he failed to protect the interests of people. "These were pre-planned murders by the government. How many poor people will the government kill to favour a private company," he fumed.
The CPI leader wanted Srikakulam district Collector and Superintendent of Police placed under suspension over the firing incident.
