House chief hurts eye as Cong MLA hurls headphone

HYDERABAD: A JOINT SESSION OF THE TELANGANA HOUSES WITNESSED UNRULY SCENES SOON AS THE GOVERNOR BEGAN HIS ADDRESS, WHICH BJP MEMBERS BOYCOTTED

Telangana legislative council chairman K Swamy Goud suffered injuries on his right eye on Monday when a protesting Congress MLA, KV Reddy, threw a headphone at the speaker’s podium during governor ESL Narasimhan’s address to the joint session of the state legislature.

Reddy and other Congress MLAs were protesting the K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR)-led Telangana government’s “indifferent attitude” towards rising farmer suicides in the state.

The incident took place as the governor began his address to the joint sitting of assembly and the legislative council at the beginning of the budget session.

While BJP leaders boycotted the address, Congress members began shouting and rushed to the podium, but were prevented by assembly marshals. The agitated Congress MLAs then tore copies of the governor’s speech and threw them at the podium.

KV Reddy, who represents Nalgonda assembly constituency, threw his headphone at the podium, but it missed the governor and hit council chairman Goud on the face, causing bleeding just below his right eye.

Goud was immediately taken out and after being administered first aid at the assembly clinic, was rushed to Sarojini Devi Memorial Eye Hospital. The doctors, who conducted a CT scan of his face, ruled out serious injury to his eye but are learnt to have suggested that he be under observation for 24 hours.

Even as the ruckus continued inside the House, the governor completed his speech and left.

Minister for legislative affairs T Harish Rao strongly condemned the “unruly behaviour”. “This is totally uncalled for by the Opposition members. They came to the House pre-planned to create disturbances. What would have happened if the headphone hit the governor, causing him injuries?” he asked.

He said the authorities have been directed to go through the records of the proceedings and submit a report. “We shall take appropriate action against the MLA and his colleagues for violating assembly rules,” Rao said.

TRS chief whip in the legislative council, P Rajeshwar Reddy, alleged that the Congress MLAs came to the assembly in “inebriated condition” with a “malicious intention to attack the ruling party members”.

K V Reddy, however, defended his action, saying that he had thrown the headphone unintentionally in a fit of anger when the ruling party tried to prevent them from protesting in a peaceful and democratic manner by “bringing in hundreds of marshals into the house”.