Hyderabad, Dec 14 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh assembly was Monday adjourned sine die amid uproarious scenes over the proposed division of the state.
With legislators irrespective of their party affiliations completely polarised along regional lines, it had become difficult for Speaker Kirankumar Reddy to run the house.

The winter session of the assembly, which began Dec 7, was to conclude Dec 23.

As soon as the house assembled for the day, raising slogans of “united Andhra”, the legislators from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema stalled the proceedings to protest the central government’s decision to initiate the process for granting separate statehood to Telangana region.

Cutting across party lines, the legislators from Telangana countered them with the slogans of “Jai Telangana”.

The speaker adjourned the house for half-an-hour amid the din. When the house reassembled, the legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema, who had already submitted their resignations, rushed to the speaker’s podium.

Amid the sloganeering and mounting tension, state Minister for Revenue Dharmana Prasada Rao moved a resolution saying it was difficult to run the house and requested the speaker to adjourn the house sine die. The speaker accepted the request and announced that the house was adjourned sine die — without specifiying the date for it to meet again.

As many as 138 legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions have submitted their resignations to the speaker since Wednesday when the government agreed to initiate the process for formation of a separate Telangana state and move a resolution in the assembly.

The legislators who had submitted their resignations include 80 from the ruling Congress party, 44 of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and 14 of Praja Rajyam Party (PRP).

Andhra and Rayalaseema have 175 members in the 294-member house while the remaining 119 come from Andhra.