With majority in sight, YSRCP Government shelves Council abolition

Amaravati: With the prospects of a majority in the 58-member Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council looking bright, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government appears to be in no mood to press the Centre for its abolition, in what seems to be a virtual reversal of its stand.

In his meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Thursday, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy raised several long-pending issues of the state but did not press for the Council's abolition, official sources here said.

The YSRC government had earlier considered spending Rs 60 crore annually on the Council an "unnecessary burden" on the exchequer.

"The resolution is with them (the Centre). We have to see. If it (abolition) happens, okaywe are ready for that," Jagan's key aide and government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has said.

He indicated that if the abolition does not happen, the government was prepared for that too and the upper house would continue to function as usual.

The AP Legislative Assembly had on January 27, 2020, passed a statutory resolution, unanimously requesting the Centre that the Council be abolished after the Chief Minister said their decision was "only in view of the people's needs and government's responsibilities".

His government's earlier view was that the members of the Legislative Council were "not representing the requirements and ambitions of the state".

In accordance with Article 169 (1) of the Constitution, Parliament has to enact an enabling legislation to abolish the Legislative Council.

"Annually, we are spending Rs 60 crore on running the Council, which is of no use. We are seeking to abolish the Council to protect peoples interests. It is not mandatory to have the Council, which is our own creation, and it is only for our convenience," Jagan had said.

At that time, the ruling YSRCP had only nine members in the Council and the opposition TDP held the majority.

The government faced humiliation in January last year when it failed to get two crucial Bills the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020 and the APCRDA (Repeal) Bill passed by Council as they were referred to a select committee at the insistence of the TDP.

Two other Bills that the YSRCP saw as prestigious also faced hurdles in the upper house of the state legislature.

"We need to seriously think whether we need to have such a House which appears to be functioning with only political motives. Only six out of 28 states in the country now have a Legislative Council. It is not mandatory to have the Council," Jagan had then said in the Assembly.

Subsequently, on a couple of occasions last year, he was said to have raised the Council abolition issue with the Union home minister but nothing happened. Now, the scenario has, however, changed.

The YSRCP's strength in the Council increased to 16 now. It is poised to win three more seats under the MLAs quota, elections for which were postponed due to Covid-19 second wave.

As it has made a clean sweep of all urban and rural local bodies in the recent elections, the YSRC will also comfortably win 11 Council seats from the Local Authorities Constituencies, elections for which have to be held shortly.

Besides, it is about to nominate four more members in the vacancies caused due to retirement of the incumbents.

Very soon, the ruling party will be 34-member strong in the 58-member House while, at the same time, the opposition TDP's number will dwindle to 15, as seven of its legislators will demit office on June 18.

One of its MLCs had already switched over to the BJP upon his suspension from the TDP.

In the next couple of years, the YSRC's strength will only swell as no other party is in a position to win any seat in the Council.

"Having the Council in place is politically crucial for us as Jagan promised MLC posts to several leaders. It was a very major political gamble he had taken (last year) but now the tide has turned in his favour," a Minister observed.