Hyderabad: Similar to the line of Telugu Desam in Telangana, YSR Congress in AP on Saturday urged Speaker Dr Kodela Siva Prasada Rao to take action on its request to disqualify eight of its MLAs who defected and joined Telugu Desam without quitting their membership of Assembly.
YSR Congress Legislature party deputy leader Jyothula Nehru and others met Speaker few hours before the commencement of Budget Session and submitted a petition seeking action against the defected MLAs under the Anti-Defection Act of 1986.
Speaker’s action is sought under Paragraph 2(1) of 10th Schedule— Read with Article 191 (2) of the Constitution under Rule 6 of the Member of AP Legislative Assembly (disqualification on ground of defection) rules of 1986. However as per the Act, the Speaker is the ultimate authority to decide on such petitions.
Petitions were filed against MLAs Bhuma Akhila Priya (Allagadda), Bhuma Nagi Reddy (Nandyal), C. Adi Narayana Reddy (Jammalamadugu), Jaleel Khan (Vijayawada West), T. Jayaramulu (Badvel), Kalamata Venkata Ramana (Pathapatnam), Mani Gandhi (Kodumuru) and Palaparthi David Raju (Yerragondapalem).
Later speaking to newsmen at Assembly, Jyothula Nehru said, “ the ball is now in the court of the Speaker who should safeguard the democratic values and look at things in an impartial way, If the speaker takes an appropriate decision it will be a slap on the face of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. In the ensuing by-elections after the disqualification, it will be known on whose side people are.”
Replying to a question he said, if Speaker is not going to take action within a reasonable time, YSRC will not hesitate to move a motion against the Speaker for his removal.
