Hyderabad, Mar 18 (IANS): Opposition Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislators were Monday suspended from the Andhra Pradesh state assembly for one day for stalling the proceedings of the house.
Fifteen TRS members present in the house were suspended by speaker N. Manohar after roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao moved a motion.
As the members refused to leave the house, the speaker called in marshals, who bodily lifted them out.
The TRS members, including their leader E. Rajender, were suspended minutes before finance minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy was to present the state budget for 2013-14.
Protesting the TRS members' suspension, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a walk out.
Earlier, the speaker adjourned the house for an hour as TRS continued to stall the proceedings, demanding that a resolution be passed, urging the centre to carve out a separate Telangana state.
When the house re-assembled, the TRS members continued their protest near the speaker's podium, raising pro-Telangana slogans. As the speaker's appeals to resume the seats fell on deaf ears, he asked the government to move the motion.
The assembly was adjourned without any business being conducted on April 14 and 16 because of the TRS protest.