T Congress to crack whip on defectors

• To press for division on voting for the Appropriation Bill; Speaker is bound to concede demand
• If MLAs violate whip, they will attract anti-defection law
• Abstaining from voting will also result in disqualification
• If they go by whip, it will be a huge embarrassment for the TRS
• TDP also decides to follow suit; Move to put TRS on the mat
• Oppn will cry injustice and blame govt, if Speaker decides to go for voice vote

Four party legislators – Vithal Reddy,

Redya Naik, Kanakaiah and Yadaiah – have defected to the TRS

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress, which is preparing for a legal battle to get the party MLAs who had defected to TRS disqualified, has in a strategic move decided to issue a whip to all its 22 members, including those who defected to the TRS to be present in Assembly and vote against the Appropriation Bill on Friday. This move is to bring in its flock under the gambit of anti-defection law. Under the law, the legislators who defy the whip will be liable for disqualification.

It may be mentioned here that four MLAs -- Vithal Reddy, Redya Naik, Kanakaiah and Yadaiah -- had defected to the TRS recently. Telangana Congress has already filed a petition for disqualification of these MLAs and the case is pending before Speaker S Madhusuhana Chary.

The Congress Legislature Party, which deliberated over the strategy to be adopted during the Appropriation Bill, on Thursday decided to issue the whip. The CLP felt that after the discussion on the Appropriation Bill is over, they should insist on division so that voting would become necessary and if the Congress defectors vote against the Bill, it would put the government in an embarrassing situation, party sources told The Hans India.

It now remains to be seen if the defected Congress members would attend the Assembly on that day or not. If the past experiences are any indication, then there is a possibility that the members may claim that they have not received the whip and abstain from the proceedings of the House on health grounds or due to lack of information. However, even in such a case they are liable for disqualification under the Anti-Defection Act. Even if the defected members abstain, the process of disqualification could take some more time as it would result in legal tangle and the Speaker will have to hear arguments from both the sides before taking a decision. This may take some time but cannot avoid disqualification.

Even if one member seeks division of votes on the Appropriation Bill, the Speaker is bound to put the bill to vote.

Another possibility is that the government may not give scope for a division and may bulldoze the Assembly proceedings and pass the Appropriation Bill by a voice vote and adjourn sine die. But this too would expose the government, Congress leaders say.

They also claim that according to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution there are two grounds which could attract anti-defection law. One is giving up the party membership voluntarily. This the defected members had already done. The second ground is violation of the whip for which the Congress party is now preparing, say legal experts.

However, the experts opine that though Telangana Congress may file a case in the apex court, it may not be possible for them to get an early decision as the court will have to wait for the decision of the Speaker and it could be a time-consuming process as he has to follow certain procedures before arriving at a decision.

Meanwhile, the Telangana Congress leaders are also said to be in touch with TTDP leaders who are learnt to have agreed to issue whip to all its members since three of its members had also defected to TRS and the party had filed a petition for their disqualification.