Congress has launched a determined bid to woo the rebel MLAs back into the party fold to avoid embarrassment if the TRS moves a no-confidence motion against the government during the on going budget session.
With nearly nine MLAs supporting YSR Congress, the Congress leadership has started exploring all options to win back their support. It tasted success when Jogi Ramesh (Pedana) and B. Sivaprasada Reddy (Darsi) reportedly returned to the party fold.
Mr. Ramesh first met Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy and the PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana before interacting with the Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy separately on Monday. Similarly, the Darsi MLA, after swinging back and forth to YSRC and Congress, stunned the Congress leadership by sporting party ‘kanduva’ during the Governor’s address to the Legislature.
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R.V.S.K. Ranga Rao (Bobbili), A.K. Srinivas (Eluru), M. Rajesh (Chintalapudi), Dwarampudi Chandrasekhara Reddy (Kakinada city), Gottipati Ravi Kumar (Addanki), Perini Venkataramaiah (Machilipatnam) and Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy (Punganur) have announced their support to the YSRC. Mr. Ramachandra Reddy called on Jaganmohan Reddy in Chanchalguda jail on Monday to express solidarity with him.
Sources said the party is weighing all options, including taking the extreme step of seeking disqualification of the rebels, if the government is forced to face no-confidence motion during this session.
The PCC chief was on record stating on Wednesday that the party would spell out its next course of action to rein in the erring members after two days. Declaring that the government was capable of facing the no-trust motion confidently, he derided the YSR Congress accusing it of being in a confused state of mind. The Chief Whip Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy too said the party would petition the Speaker to axe the rebels.
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