The no-confidence motion moved by the main Opposition YSR Congress against the AP Council of Ministers headed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was defeated by voice vote in the Assembly on Monday night.
Soon after Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao announced that the motion was lost, several YSR Congress members surrounded the Speaker's podium and pressed for division. The Speaker ruled that the matter was closed and asked Rajendranath Reddy (YSRC) to initiate debate on the budget. With the member not heeding the Chair's direction, he asked K. Ravi Kumar of the TDP to speak for a few minutes amidst the din and adjourned the House.
Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly witnessed a heated debate on the alleged irregularities in different sectors ever since the Telugu Desam Party took over the reins in 2014.
The debate over the no confidence motion tabled by the main Opposition YSR Congress Party provided a platform for the ruling and opposition parties to trade charges of corruption against one another.
Even as the Opposition leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy made a slew of allegations of corruption against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the latter wanted Mr. Jagan to submit prima facie evidence to substantiate his charges.
In response, Mr. Jagan demanded that the Government order a probe by the CBI into various issues including irregularities in the capital land deals, coal purchases, cost escalation by contractors entrusted the work on irrigation projects, alleged kickbacks in sanction of industrial incentives, irregularities in sand deals and huge amounts that changed hands in finalising the contracts for the solar energy hub proposed to be developed by the Government.
Mr. Naidu, however, remained firm on his ground that there were no irregularities in any deal and the Government had adopted a transparent process not giving scope for irregularities. He said neither the Government had signed any deals in relation to the solar energy project nor had it finalised contractors for the power sector projects. “The Opposition leader is trying to mislead the House and the people by his baseless and wild allegations,” he alleged.
Marathon debate
The more than nine-hour debate on the no trust motion witnessed pandemonium in the House as the ruling and Opposition parties remained firm on their respective stances. Mr. Naidu offered to take stringent action against those found guilty of corruption if the Opposition leader was able to prove his charges.
He wanted Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao to initiate action against Mr. Jagan for making “baseless charges” against the Government and lowering the prestige of the Government without substantial proof.
He said Mr. Jagan had no right to speak in the House till the time he substantiated his allegations against the Government or he should tender unconditional apologies to the people. “The action against the member should become a deterrent to those who want to cast aspersions against the Government without proving their claims,” he said.
Mr. Jagan, however, stood his ground and said an inquiry by the CBI would bring out the facts. “All these deals are entered into at the behest of the Chief Minister himself and we want an inquiry by the premier agency,” he asserted adding why did the Government backtrack on the probe if it was confident of the transparency in the deals.
In his speech, frequently interrupted by the Ministers and ruling party members, Mr. Jagan said all sections including farmers, women, students and unemployed were dissatisfied by the Government’s performance as it did not keep any of the promises it made before the elections.
Mr. Naidu recalled how former Chief Minister late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy filed a series of petitions against him alleging disproportionate assets and how the courts dismissed all of them as not maintainable. In addition, the then YSR Government had ordered over 20 probes against him, but could not prove anything.
Mr. Jagan, however, contended that Mr. Naidu could obtain relief from the courts on technical grounds.
Naidu urges Speaker to initiate action against the YSRC chief for making baseless charges against the government
Jagan demands CBI probe into various issues including irregularities in capital land deals, coal purchases, industrial incentives...
