TDP ‘humiliated’ in Parliament

Express News Service
Last Updated : 23 Nov 2011 10:11:39 AM IST

HYDERABAD: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) faced humiliation in Parliament on Tuesday as the nameplate of its Parliamentary Party leader Nama Nageswara Rao on the TDP chamber was removed. Shocked over the incident, a TDP delegation, led by Rao, lodged a complaint with Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar.

The TDPP has been functioning from Chamber-5 in Parliament since 1985. However, the Lok Sabha officials recently wanted the TDP MPs to vacate the Chamber to accommodate DMK, which has more MPs than TDP. The tussle between the two regional parties from the south reached its peak in the last couple of months and TDP refused to vacate its Chamber.

“We have been using Chamber-5 for several years. Even when TDP had two MPs, we functioned from the same room,” Rao complained to the speaker. The TDPP protested the removal of nameplate without informing it.

TDP has now six Lok Sabha and four Rajya Sabha members. People used to come to Chamber-5 for the past 26 years. Changing the room now will cause severe inconvenience to people, he said. However, the speaker said she would discuss the matter with Rao later.

The TDPP leader also raised the non-allotment of an independent bungalow to him even after two and half years. “We are facing inconvenience even to address the media due to lack of independent room,” Rao said.

The TDP delegation submitted a list of 20 first-time MPs who got independent bungalows. “Even some former MPs are also continuing in the bungalows,” the TDP contended.

TDP MPs felt that it was nothing but humiliating the party, which has been fighting against corruption of the Congress government. “We will resist if the Lok Sabha staff wanted to forcibly vacate us from Chamber- 5,” an MP said.