Hyderabad: For all his being a shrewd strategist, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu utterly failed in handling the issue concerning his party Legislator Vallabhaneni Vamsi.
In what can be viewed as a politically incorrect decision but one that came as a blessing in disguise for Vamsi, who, by virtue of being suspended from the party, did not come under the ambit of ‘disqualification’.
According to Anti-Defection Act “if an elected member voluntarily gives up his membership of a political party, he will automatically be disqualified. “And when Vamsi resigned from the party, TD leadership suspended him, whereby he cannot attract disqualification.
At a no-holds-barred interaction with the media, Vamsi clarified that he had resigned from Telugu Desam’s primary membership. He also announced that he would support Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
However, the TD leadership did not demand the Assembly Speaker to disqualify him.
Former Speaker KR Suresh Reddy, who dealt several disqualification petitions during his tenure in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, said “if any party suspends its MLA he will not attract disqualification, and the Speaker cannot do so of his own accord”.
The suspended MLA, for all practical purposes, will continue as his own party member and will be bound by its whip. If the MLA violates the party whip, then he can attract disqualification, asserted Mr Suresh Reddy.
He said that suspension is a disciplinary action of that particular party. If the MLA relents and tenders an apology, the party can revoke his suspension. Unless demanded by the party, a Speaker cannot disqualify a suspended member. However, if the suspended MLA joins any other party on those grounds, he can be disqualified. During voting, if TD issues any whip it will apply to Vamsi also. However, he can abstain from voting by duly informing the Speaker.
Parties do not give a chance to the suspended members to speak in the House. In the circumstances, the suspended member cannot express his opinion in the House.
Mr Suresh Reddy said that the Speaker should protect the rights of every member and in such situation the Speaker can use his discretion and give a chance to the suspended member.
