The first general body meeting of the Zilla Praja Parishad was off to a raucous start here on Friday with MLA of YSR Congress Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former minister and Pendurthi MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy indulging in a heated argument, followed by YSRC MLAs and ZPTC staging a sit-in in front of chairperson Lalam Bhavani’s podium.
For more than an hour the proceedings could not commence as the YSRC members refused to budge even as Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao and later MP M. Srinivasa Rao, MLCs and MLAs tried to pacify them.
Finally the YSRC members relented and the proceedings commenced.
Trouble broke out when Mr. Sarveswara Rao wanted Mr. Ganta Srinivasa Rao to remain at the meeting and discuss the issues after the Minister announced that he had to attend a review meeting on the cyclone relief at the Collectorate.
A caustic comment made by Mr. Satyanarayana Murthy, while he was arguing with Mr. Sarveswara Rao for trying to prevent the Minister from leaving the ZPP meeting, turned the situation tense.
When the meeting finally came to order Ms. Bhavani assured that all the Hudhud victims would receive government help in full. A two-minute silence was observed in memory of those killed in the cyclone. She thanked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for personally supervising the relief works and brining near normalcy in a quick time, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting the cyclone affected area on the third day and announcing Rs. 1,000 crore as preliminary help. Members raised questions on rural development, employment assurance, housing, medical and health, agriculture, power and other wings.
