In a development with far-reaching consequences, and complications, Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar on Saturday decided not to pronounce a decision over the disqualification of 17 MLAs loyal to Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for an indefinite period. This means all 17 MLAs can attend the Budget Session starting from Monday.
These MLAs had violated their party whips on December 5 last year during voting on the No-Confidence Motion that was unsuccessfully moved by the Telugu Desam. The Congress and the Praja Rajyam legislature parties had petitioned to the Speaker to disqualify the MLAs from the membership of the House.
The decision to not take a decision was on the cards for some time, with some Congress seniors
contending that facing the byelections in as many as 24 Assembly segments (including seven seats which have already been declared vacant) at one go could create problems. The ruling party was considering the option of splitting the by-polls to its advantage.
