Congress MLA loses cool in Telangana House; throws mike in air

HYDERABAD: Congress legislator D K Aruna today created a flutter in Telangana Assembly when she removed a mike and flung it in the air in a fit of anger to protest some remarks made by IT Minister K T Rama Rao.

Later, after going through the video footage of the incident, Speaker S Madhusudanachari asked Aruna to tender an apology to the House and withdraw her remarks against the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) members.

The incident occurred during the Question Hour when Aruna took strong exception to TRS members interrupting her speech and said they should know how to respect women. The former minister also ridiculed the K Chandrasekhar Rao government for not inducting any woman in the Cabinet.

Countering her, Rama Rao, son of Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, said they could not accommodate women members in the Cabinet due to some "equations".

He asked her not to show "dadagiri" (bullying tactics) in the House, a remark which infuriated Aruna, who removed the mike planted on her desk and threw it in the air.

Members of the opposition Congress rushed to the Well and demanded an apology from the ruling party members alleging they had "insulted" the women fraternity.

At this stage, the Chief Minister intervened and suggested that Speaker along with members of all parties verify the video footage and "come to a conclusion".

After going through the footage, the Speaker appealed to Aruna to tender an apology for her "behaviour" in the House. Following this, both Aruna and Rama Rao expressed regrets for their remarks.

Energy Minister Jagdish Reddy also withdrew certain remarks he had made during the Question Hour.