Manda, Vivek not to quit LS

T trinity trains guns on detractors Hyderabad: The two Congress MPs from Telangana, Manda Jagannadham and G Vivekananda, who are set to join TRS on Sunday have decided not to resign from Lok Sabha. Stating this at a meet the press programme organised by Telangana Journalists' Forum, Vivek said that the Chief Minister had started making a false propaganda that they were joining TRS for the sake of tickets for 'us and our family members'. This he said was nothing but a deep-rooted conspiracy by Seemandhra leaders led by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. He said the T Congress MPs had tried their best to save the party in the region and had been putting lot of pressure on the party leadership for bifurcation of the state but it was Kiran and his friends who did not allow the high command to carve a separate state.

The high command and the party should realise that the T sentiment has not subsided. What has subsided was the voice of some T Congress MPs, who took part in the protest demonstrations for the sake of Telangana but have now deserted the movement after they got ministerial berths. As true protagonists of T state, he said they will not relent till statehood was achieved. Vivek along with Manda and K Keshav Rao reiterated that they were joining TRS only to achieve statehood for Telangana as they are fully convinced that Congress will not give T state. They said, " Telangana issue has now reached a decisive stage. TRS has emerged as the political face of Telangana. As Congress failed to keep its promise on the T-issue, we have resolved to continue our fight to achieve statehood under TRS flag." Reacting to the comments made by union minister of state P Balram Naik that they were quitting TRS and joining TRS to win in next elections, the trio said Telangana issue will be decided only during the elections as it will reflect the voice of the people of the region. Hence, they said they chose to contest on TRS ticket. Keshav Rao lashing out at his detractors said that he had followed his moral inner call for the sake of achieving T state. "If the car in which I am travelling is defective, I will have to change the car to reach my destination," Keshav Rao said. He said the party had betrayed the strong faith he had in it and now he is certain that Congress party will not give Telangana hence he has decided to bid adieu to the party. "I cannot deceive the people of my motherland," he said.

What law on 'Disqualification' says? Hyderabad: The two MPs G Vivekananda and M Jagannadham who are set to join TRS on Sunday are likely to face disqualification from the Lok Sabha if they resign from the Congress party as per the anti-defection law that was passed by Parliament in 1985. Under the anti-defection law, Articles 102 (2) and 191 (2), if an elected member voluntarily gives up his membership of a political party; if he votes or abstains from voting contrary to the whip or direction issued by his political party in the House session without obtaining prior permission, a member can be disqualified. As a pre-condition for his disqualification, his abstention from voting should not be condoned by his party or the authorised person within 15 days of such incident. In the 28 years of this law, complaints have been made against 62 Lok Sabha MPs. Of these, 26 were disqualified. It is pertinent to note that ten of these disqualifications were after the trust vote of July 2008 (over India-US civil nuclear co-operation). Four cases were made against Rajya Sabha MPs (two in 1989 and two in 2008) and all were upheld. In state legislatures, up to 2004, out of 268 complaints, 113 were upheld.