Peddireddy slams Speaker's action

Tirupati: Former Punganoor MLA Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy who was disqualified by the Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar accused the Speaker of denigrating his office and acting like a coward in getting him disqualified. Speaking to the media here on Sunday, he lashed out at the ruling Congress and the Telugu Desam Party conniving together for misusing the Speaker's office just like the way they misused the CBI. Ramachandra Reddy said that his resignation should have been accepted six months back or immediately after voting in favour of the no-confidence motion in the Assembly. Had the Speaker accepted his resignation along with others who sympathized with the YSR Congress Party, there would have been by-elections in the state, he said. Then, we would have known which party enjoys people's support, he said. Ramachandra Reddy questioned as to why no action was taken against the Congress MLAs who switched over sides to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. He said that the people of the state were in no mood to believe the canards spread against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy that he indulged in corruption. He wondered as to why the Ministers who issued the controversial GOs were still enjoying power while Y S Jagan was languishing in jail. The former Minister and MLA said that the Y S R Congress Party would sweep the polls in the 2014 elections and Jagan would become the Chief Minister as his charisma would never wane. The people were watching with dismay the way cases were being booked against Jagan in the quid-pro-quo by misusing the CBI, he said. Ramachandra Reddy expressed confidence that the YSR Congress would bag all the seats in Chittoor district. He said that the TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu might win with a drastically reduced majority from Kuppam. He may even lose the election like the way the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha lost the election in Perumbudur, he said. The people of the state were in no mood to believe the gimmicks of Kiran Kumar Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu, he said.