Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday refused to accept the resignation of five YSR Congress MPs, telling the lawmakers to rethink their decision and revert to her in a couple of days.
The MPs had resigned on April 6.
“The meeting started at 5 p.m. and went on till 6:15 p.m. She tried to convince us not to resign. And finally she told us to review it once more and return to her in two or three days,” YSR Congress MP Y.V. Subba Reddy told The Hindu .
Mr Reddy said all five MPs told the Speaker that their decision was final and they did not plan to withdraw the resignations.
“In our resignations we have stated clearly that we quitting for the failure of Union government in fulfilling its responsibility towards Andhra Pradesh. They not only failed to give special status to the State but also did not deliver on important projects like Polavaram,” Mr Reddy added.
According to Mr Reddy, the Speaker argued that it was her moral responsibility as the presiding officer to hear the grievances and try to address them. “We told her clearly that we are not interested in coming back to her. We have stopped attending all parliamentary committee and protocol meetings from the day we resigned,” he said.
The Opposition has questioned the Speaker’s inaction on the resignation of the YSR Congress MPs while resignations of BJP leaders B.S. Yedurappa and B. Sriramaulu were accepted immediately.
“We too asked her this question and she responded very sharply to it, saying that the two issues are distinct. The BJP leaders had already taken an oath in Karnataka assembly. So she said, that as per rules, it is considered deemed accepted,” Mr Reddy said.
The YSR Congress has been nearly isolated from the opposition. During their fast in the Capital last month barring Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja no other political leader visited them to express solidarity.
On the question of reaching out to the other opposition parties, Mr. Reddy said his party would mull over their strategy in first week of June after their resignations were accepted. He also asserted that there is no question of talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any of the senior ministers.
