TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu gave his consent for the disqualification of four MLAs who have defected to the ruling YSR Congress Party. Naidu gave a reply to the letter written to him by Assembly Speaker Thammineni Sitaram.
Naidu said that TDP MLAs, Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan, Karanam Balaramakrishna Murthy, Maddali Giridhar and Vasupalli Ganesh have defected to the YSR Congress. He said that the floor crossing attracts anti-defection law. However, officially they have not defected but are associated with the YSR Congress, Naidu said.
Naidu requested the speaker to disqualify all the four MLAs from the Assembly. It is to be seen what decision that the speaker would take once he receives the letter from Chandrababu Naidu.
The speaker had also written to these MLAs seeking their reply for the disqualification notice. He wanted them to reply to him in one week. He asked the MLAs to justify their action of associating with the YSR Congress, while they were elected on the TDP ticket.
Meanwhile, the speaker also wrote letters to the YSR Congress MLAs seeking their reply for disqualification. YSR Congress MLAs, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy and Undavalli Sridevi have defected to the Opposition TDP.
The ruling party had suspended these four MLAs for voting for the TDP candidate in the MLC elections held in 2023. They were accused of voting for TDP candidate, Panchumarthy Anuradha during the elections. The ruling party had suspended these MLAs for their anti-party activities.
They are currently associated with the TDP and the speaker sought their clarification on the notice given to them. The speaker office had moved the action fast as the Rajya Sabha elections were round the corner. There are Rajya Sabha elections scheduled in March this year. Three members, Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy of the YSR Congress, Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar of the TDP and C M Ramesh of the BJP are scheduled to retire in April 2024. It is for this reason, the speaker’s office moved the action.
The speaker’s office had already accepted the resignation of TDP MLA and former minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who resigned in February 2021. He also met the speaker in person and requested him to accept his resignation. Following this, the speaker accepted his resignation early this week.
