War of words between Jagan and Naidu in Andhra Assembly

Amaravati, July 12 (IANS) A war of words between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and leader of opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu rocked the state Assembly on Friday.

Pandemonium prevailed in the House as there were heated exchanges between the two leaders during a debate on interest-free loans for farmers.

As the debate on the issue was taken up for second day due to persistent demands by opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Naidu reeled out statistics from different documents to deny the allegations by Jagan Reddy that the previous government did not implement zero per cent interest scheme.

As the chief minister had on Thursday dared Naidu to resign and leave the House for failing to give even a penny to the farmers, Naidu hit back at Jagan Reddy by providing the statistics. "Will you resign now or apologise to people?" the TDP chief asked the chief minister, evoking protest from treasury benches.

Countering Naidu, Jagan Reddy said the TDP government provided only Rs 600 crore for the scheme while it should have given Rs 11,600 crore in five years. He said Naidu was claiming a great achievement by giving just 5 per cent money.

There were repeated interruptions when the chief minister was speaking. Irked over this, he remarked "We are 151. If we decide you will not be seen around."

When TDP leader Atchan Naidu tried to intervene, Jagan Reddy asked him to sit and taunted him. "The man is of this size, but the brain is not of that level. You don't know what to speak and what not to speak," said the chief minister.

Speaker T. Seetharam also reprimanded the TDP members for repeatedly creating disruptions.

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has 151 members in 175-member Assembly. The TDP's strength is 23.