Former MP V. Aruna Kumar alleged that the BJP members deliberately stalled the Bill from coming up for discussion as was evident from the demand for action against the AAP member. “The BJP is in power and what prevented it from initiating action against the erring member?” he asked.

Union Minister Y. Satyanarayana (Sujana) Chowdary faulted the Congress for not insisting on the debate on the issue during the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee held earlier in the day.

“Why did they (the Congress members) not insist on taking up the issue as top priority when they knew that the Bill was placed at number 14 in the list of items to be taken up by the House today?”

Mr. Chowdary said the TDP had decided to extend its support to the Bill in spite of the fact that it would not serve any tangible purpose.

“The Bill has no sanctity and its passage or otherwise would not have any impact. But, we decided to support the Bill as a matter of record,” Mr. Chowdary said.