Rebel Congress and TDP MLAs, who defied the party whip and voted in favour of the no confidence motion in the Assembly last month, in an open letter to Speaker Nadendla Manohar on Friday appealed that they should be disqualified immediately to pave the way for the conduct of by-polls.
The 13 rebels, who are on a fast at Old MLA Quarters against the recent power tariff hike, decided to write to the Speaker in the wake of what they alleged was a conspiracy being hatched by the ruling Congress and the TDP to get them disqualified and ensure that there are no by-elections.
In the letter, the MLAs informed the Speaker that they violated the whip by supporting the no-confidence motion and also by participating in the indefinite fast against the power tariff hike under the leadership of YSR Congress Party honorary president Y.S. Vijayamma.
The rebels said the Congress-TDP game plan was to somehow avoid by-elections. “Fearing defeat in the by-polls, Congress and TDP are now playing a new drama to delay our disqualification,” they said. They said that despite knowing very well that they would lose their membership for voting in the no-trust motion, they chose to stand by the people after being inspired by YSRC chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
The Speaker had on March 30 issued show cause notices to 18 MLAs of the Congress and the TDP. They were asked to send their replies within a fortnight. The Legislature Secretariat had dispatched individual letters to the members on April 1.
YSRC sources said the MLAs facing disqualification proceedings would write letters to the Speaker giving the same reply. The move is to pressure the Speaker to expedite the process of disqualification and “expose the nexus between the Congress and the TDP.”
The open letter was signed by R.V.S.K.Ranga Rao, Jogi Ramesh, T.Vanitha, A.V.Praveen Kumar Reddy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Perini Venkataramaiah, D.Chandrasekhara Reddy, M.Rajesh Kumar, Y.Balanagi Reddy, P.Sairaj, N.Amaranatha Reddy, B.Sivaprasada Reddy and P.Ramachandra Reddy. Two others – A.K.Srinivas and Kodali Venkateswara Rao alias Nani -- are away from the city.
