Acting swiftly in the wake of the government's decision to convene a brief Assembly session, the Telugu Desam Party submitted a one-line notice to the Assembly Secretariat on Thursday expressing no-confidence in the Council of Ministers headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.
A team of five TDP MLAs led by Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Thummala Nageswara Rao handed over to the Legislature Secretary S. Rajasadaram a letter signed by Leader of the Opposition and 11 other party MLAs. They planned to submit it to the Deputy Speaker Nadendla Manohar, but he did not visit the Assembly as he was to resign later in the day.
Before long, it became clear that the notice was infructuous as it was not in line with the Assembly Rules. According to Rule 7 (5), a notice of no-confidence has to be submitted before commencement of the sitting “for that day.” Realising its mistake, the TDP announced that it would submit a fresh notice on Saturday morning before the Assembly session begins at 11 a.m. on June 4.
Later, TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu said the motion was aimed at exposing the government's “failure on all fronts.” He said the party was forced to move the motion as the government had lost the confidence of the people and was unable to solve the problems faced by paddy farmers and other sections.
He said the party was considering forcing a contest for the Speaker's post and a final decision would be taken after a thorough discussion. Sources said senior MLA and former Minister, K.E. Krishnamurthy, may be named as the candidate. Asked if his party was ready to face the elections in the event of the government losing the trust vote, “We are ready.”
