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Andhra Speaker questions four YSRCP rebel MLAs over cross-voting in polls
Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker Tammineni Sitaram sought explanation from four rebel MLAs of the ruling YSR Congress party for allegedly voting against party whip in the MLC elections held in March 2023
Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker Tammineni Sitaram on Monday called four rebel MLAs of the ruling YSR Congress Party, seeking explanation for allegedly voting against party whip in the MLC elections in March last year. The development came just months before the assembly polls in the state.
The four MLAs — Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy from Udayagiri, Vundavalli Sridevi from Tadikonda, Anam Ramanarayan Reddy from Venkatagiri and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy from Nellore (rural) — appeared before the speaker to present their version. It is alleged that these four MLAs cross-voted for Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate in the elections.
The speaker also called four rebel TDP MLAs who had shifted their loyalties to the YSRCP soon after the assembly elections in 2019, to give an explanation why they had defected to the ruling party.
The four MLAs – Vallabhaneni Vamsi from Gannavaram, Karanam Balaram from Chirala, Maddali Giridhar from Guntur (West) and Vasupalli Ganesh from Visakhapatnam (South), will appear before the speaker on Tuesday.
On January 25, the speaker served notices on these eight MLAs, besides another MLA – Rapaka Varaprasad from Razole, who was elected on Jana Sena Party ticket but defected to the YSRCP, asking them why they should not be disqualified from their assembly membership for violating the anti-defection law.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Sitaram in the speaker’s chamber in the assembly, Ramanarayan Reddy said the notices were served on them based on a complaint given by government chief whip Prasada Raju, stating that the four rebel YSRCP MLAs had cross-voted for TDP candidate Panchumarthi Anuradha in the MLC elections held in March last year, for which they were suspended.
“We categorically told the speaker that we did not vote for the TDP candidate and there was absolutely no evidence for the same. We were not even given the copy of the complaint given by the chief whip. We told the speaker that if we have a complaint copy, we shall reply to them through our lawyers, but he did not give us the chance,” Ramanarayan Reddy said.
He regretted that the speaker had even refused to give acknowledgement to the written explanation given by the MLAs.
While sending of disqualification notice to the four rebel YSRCP MLAs ahead of the coming elections, that too, a year after they allegedly defied the party line came as a big surprise to them, the speaker, on January 23, accepted the resignation of senior TDP lawmaker Ganta Srinivasa Rao, after sitting over the same for nearly three years.
It was on February 12, 2021 that Rao had resigned from his Visakhapatnam (north) assembly seat, in protest against the Centre’s move to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Though he sent his resignation letter to Sitaram in a proper format, the latter did not accept it immediately.
“It is surprising that the speaker chose to accept my resignation after nearly three years, just before the elections. Obviously, it is to deny me an opportunity to cast my vote in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections,” Rao said.
The Election Commission on Monday announced the schedule for elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, along with 53 seats in 14 other states, on February 27. The seats in AP are falling vacant due to the completion of the term of CM Ramesh (BJP), Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (YSRCP) and Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar (TDP).
Since YSRCP has a strength of 151 seats in the assembly, it can win all the three seats comfortably, as each candidate requires a maximum of 44 votes of MLAs. Since the TDP has only 23 MLAs, it cannot field a candidate.
“But since YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has denied assembly tickets to around 30 MLAs for the coming elections, the party is apprehensive that they may not vote for the party candidate in Rajya Sabha elections,” a party functionary, who refused to be quoted, said.
If the TDP fields any candidate, there is a probability that these dropped MLAs might vote for him or her. “That is why the party wants to see that the TDP doesn’t have enough MLAs. The acceptance of the Visakhapatnam (north) MLA’s resignation and move to disqualify four rebel YSRCP MLAs are part of this plan to reduce the strength of the TDP,” the leader quoted above said.
