 "T-Bill takes a bitter turn as pepper sprayed, knives drawn in House")
That was what happened in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and reporters and MPs alike could barely believe their eyes. Soon after 12 noon, when the Bill to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh was tabled, MPs, who had been chanting pro- and anti-Telangana slogans even through an obituary mention, just could not contain themselves. Two of them attacked the chair and later, one, Narayana Rao, drank what seemed to be poison and had to be rushed out of the House to the hospital in an ambulance. Later it was clarified that he had actually suffered a heart attack and hospital authorities said his blood pressure and heart rate were very high.
The MP who tried to plunge a knife into the Speaker’s chair, M Venugopal Reddy from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), was subdued brutally by colleagues from the Congress party. There was a brief wrestling match on the floor of the House and, eventually, he was led away by police and marshals. His party rival but united on the cause of a united Andhra Pradesh, L Rajagopal, promoter of the Lanco group of companies, is from the Congress. Rajagopal was unrepentant about using pepper spray but denied his quarry was the Speaker, a woman.
Speaking to TV channels, he said he always carried pepper spray for self-defence. "I used the pepper spray when I was attacked by TDP MPs. Pepper spray is not a lethal weapon. And if they have suspended me, they should suspend all those who rushed to the well of the House," he said, adding for good measure, "It is the government that should be ashamed of what happened in Parliament today."
In Central Hall, MPs from the government and opposition alike were shellshocked and the mood was sombre. A minister elected from Andhra Pradesh said all he had been doing for the last 110 days was managing the fallout of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He hadn’t attended to his ministry “and now look what’s happened”. Another who is elected to the Lok Sabha from Telangana said the protagonists of the attack were wealthy people whose wealth had multiplied because of the “kindness shown to them by the people of Telangana and nationalised banks”. “Why do they think they will be considered outsiders in Telangana?” he asked.
A woman minister also elected from the Seemandhra region said she did not condone what Rajagopal had done but could understand it. “I am from Visakhapatnam. When people there ask me why I contributed to divide our state, I can’t look them in the eye,” she said. “Desperate people resort to desperate measures.”
Interestingly, the intelligence unit of Parliament House security had got advance reports that people might plunge to their death from the visitors’ gallery to protest the bifurcation. So, no passes were issued for visitors and the galleries were kept empty.
Later, answering questions, Congress party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said his party was unreservedly ashamed of the incident and condemned it in the strongest terms. He also said his party would not come in the way of action against the MPs but wondered why the Bharatiya Janata Party was not clarifying its stand on the division of Andhra Pradesh — were they for it or against it.
Similar scenes were enacted in the Rajya Sabha. Later, at an all-party meeting, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury asked the government if, in the midst of such dissonance on the division of the state, there was a Plan B. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the government did have a Plan B, but added that it was not willing to make it public.
Although both Houses have been adjourned till Monday, the day of the interim Budget, there is no clarity about whether the Budget will be passed. Meanwhile, more than 15 MPs have been suspended, suggesting this has been done to ensure smooth passage of the financial legislation. For many of them, Thursday will be their last day of Parliament — and they will be remembered as being carried out kicking and screaming.