Roja's suspension: Chandrababu's political doublespeak exposed

Hyderabad: An irony of sorts was witnessed in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Friday, when the ruling TDP party that once sat in protest outside the assembly against the suspension of its MLA, today made haste to suspend the YSRCP MLA K.R Roja. There was neither an enquiry into the matter, nor was the member given an opportunity to defend herself.

The opposition party members were protesting against the government not allowing a discussion on the issue of the ‘call money sex racket’ in the Assembly. Having been denied this opportunity for the last two days, a few members of the opposition party on Friday, rushed into the well of the House to press this issue.

Members in the assembly agitating in the well of the house and even hackling at each other is something that we are accustomed to see, unfortunately. But what followed however and the manner in which it was done, raised more than just an eyebrow. The government somehow singled out the Nagari MLA Roja from the pile of opposition members and quickly called for her suspension that was executed in minutes with a vocal vote, with the operational precision of a rocket launch!

Coming back to the irony
Back in 2008, the TDP, as the main opposition party protested when one of its MLAs Karnam Balaramakrishna Murthy was suspended by the speaker for 6 months. This incident was seen as an extreme one too and Chandrababu Naidu was able to rally support from the other opposition parties against this decision of speaker K.R Suresh Reddy.
But a closer look at the facts, reveal a stark difference between the suspension decree then and now.

The ruling Congress party brought this issue of Karnam Balaramakrishna Murthy’s unparliamentary behavior to the Speaker, who referred this to the privileges committee of the Assembly. The committee led by Gade Venkat Reddy, a senior member, sat down to investigate the issue and gathered all the pertinent evidence. They heard the defense of Karnam Balaramakrishna Murthy himself and after deliberations recommended that he be suspended for a period of 6 months.

What was impressive is that in spite of the investigations and recommendations of the privileges committee K Balaramakrishna Murthy was given an opportunity by the Speaker to defend himself in the Assembly, before he was suspended.

How Chandrababu viewed the issue back then?
Even after the more-than-fair treatment of the issue by the speaker, Chandrababu Naidu accused the Speaker of partisanship and derided the ruling party for politics of revenge. He rallied support from the other opposition parties and sat in protest next to the Gandhi statue in the Assembly premises.

Precedence in Parliament history
Even in clear cut cases where members switched parties after getting elected, the procedures and quorum of our parliamentary democracy were not sidelined. Charges brought against MLAs and MPs were investigated and the members given opportunity to defend themselves. Even their emotional outbursts received lighter treatment.

Singling out Roja for suspension
The opposition party had been trying to bring the members’ attention on the ‘call money sex racket’ that the government from the beginning kept eluding by posting it for a future date. Determined to push for a discussion on the issue on Friday, members of the opposition parties rushed into the well of the house and began sloganeering.

A war of words soon ensued between the opposition members and the ruling party ministers. In an unexpected move that had all the characteristics of a premeditated plan of action, the issue of Roja’s suspension swept through the House.

With Dulepalli Surendra proposing that K.R Roja be suspended from the Assembly for a year, the Parliamentary Affairs minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu wasted no time in placing the issue before the House. All that was left now was for the Speaker of the House to put it to a voice vote. ‘The yeas have it’ he said without losing a breath and passed it before the dust could settle.

What was her crime?
Not only was the suspended member not given any opportunity to defend herself, but even the voice of her leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was stifled as he rose to question what had just happened and to come to her rescue. His mike was switched off as the Speaker declared that he would not allow any discussion until the suspended member left the Assembly.