Cong, TDP rebels face disqualification

V Ramu Sarma

• Speaker will be asked to take action anytime
• Cong doesn't want repetition during voting on Governor's address and the budget

Hyderabad: The Congress and the TDP rebels who defied the party whips and voted for the no-confidence motion against the state government on Friday face disqualification from the state Assembly. Nine Congress MLAs and six TDP MLAs voted for the motion. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who held consultations with some ministers and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana on Saturday felt that the party should take immediate action against the rebels. Chief whip G Venkataramana Reddy told the media that the letter for disqualification of the nine MLAs -- Dwarampudi Chandrasekhara Reddy (Kakinada Rural), Buchepalli Sivaprasada Reddy (Darsi), G Ravi Kumar (Addanki), Alla Nani (Eluru), Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao (Bobbili), Perni Nani (Machilipatnam) Muddala Rajesh (Chintalapudi), Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy and Jogi Ramesh -- would be submitted to Speaker N Manohar either on Monday or Tuesday. Their disqualification also saves the ruling party from more possible embarrassments if voting takes place on Governor's address and the budget, since there is only a wafer thin difference in the respective strengths of treasury and opposition benches. Technically speaking the government is in a minority by one or two votes. If voting takes place on Governor's address or the budget, the main opposition TDP may not be able to argue that it is an issue connected with TRS or YSRCP whom it termed as "tail parties" and refused to support the no-trust motion moved by them. However, it will have to be seen if the MIM, the notable absentee during the Friday voting, will again come to the rescue of the government or vote with the opposition. If both the TDP and MIM choose to vote against then the Kiran Kumar Reddy government will be in real danger.A Asked why these MLAs crossed over to the YSRCP, Venkataramana Reddy said that they had succumbed to allurements offered by the YSRCP. What has come as a surprise for the Congress party is the last minute volte face of Jogi Ramesh who till the last minute had given an impression that he would sail with the Congress.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who held consultations with some ministers and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana on Saturday felt that the party should take immediate action against the rebels The party is also concerned over the absence of Tourism minister Vatti Vasant Kumar's absence during voting. While former minister P Shankar Rao came on a wheel chair at the time of voting, the minister failed to do likewise. The explanation he later offered was that he was not well, took some medicine and fell asleep and could not wake up to reach on time for voting. But party sources say that he is sulking as he feels that more importance is being given to Pithani Satyanarayana in West Godavari district. There is also a speculation that Vatti , unhappy with the party stand, was moving closer to YSRCP. However, senior Congress leaders and the chief whip deny that Vatti was drifting away from the party. On the other hand, the TDP is also gearing up to disqualify six of its rebel MLAs, Praveen Reddy, Kodali Nani, Amarnath Reddy,Sairaj, Balanagi Reddy and K Harishwar Reddy. However, the party wants to wait till the Congress makes the first move so that they can also avoid facing by elections at this stage. Like the Congress, the TDP also faced several reversals in the recent by-polls. Both the parties may be fearing similar results if by-elections are held once again. Once these parties give the letters to the Speaker seeking disqualification of the members, Manohar may take some time to take a decision and complete the process.