Rebel MLC Janga Krishna Murthy disqualified by Legislative Council chairman
Vijayawada: YSRC rebel MLC Janga Krishna Murthy, who joined the Telugu Desam last month, has been disqualified under the anti-defection law.
Legislative Council Chairman Koyye Moshenu Raju issued a notification to this effect on Thursday. Notably, the Chairman's action came three days after simultaneous elections to the state Assembly and Parliament.
Krishna Murthy, who was also president of YSRC's Backward Class (BC) wing, resigned from the post and from the primary membership of the party after the party denied him the candidature for the Assembly or Lok Sabha elections. He wanted to contest the polls from the Gurazala Assembly constituency in Palnadu district.
He had been elected as MLA in 1999 and 2004 from Gurazala on a Congress ticket. He later switched his loyalties to the YSRC.
Murthy, a two-time MLA, joined the TD at a public meeting in Sattenapalli on April 6. After his defeat from the same constituency as YSRC candidate in 2014, the party did not field him in the 2019 polls. But Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as president of the YSRC had nominated him to the state Legislative Council.
This time, Murthy put huge pressure on the party to get the ticket for Gurazala, but the YSRC re-nominated sitting MLA Kasu Mahesh Reddy. Murthy was bitter after his claim was rejected for the Narasaraopet Lok Sabha seat too.
The YSRC, instead, fielded another BC leader and former minister, P. Anil Kumar Yadav. Earlier, Murthy was a contender for the chairman post of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), but the party chose Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakara Reddy.
On Thursday, Krishna Murthy objected to the decision to disqualify him and said the Chairman did not seek his version before issuing the disqualification decision.