Govt wins but loses majority

As many as 9 Cong MLAs defy whip and vote for the motion; 6 TDP MLAs also defy the whip Motion lost by 58-142 with 64 abstaining

Hyderabad: The TRS sponsored no confidence against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government that engaged the house in day long debate on all its failures and follies, fell flat as expected on Friday. A divided opposition gave the much needed breather for the government. The TDP adopted a neutral stand while the AIMIM stayed away from the house.

The no confidence motion introduced by the TRS floor leader Etela Rajender was defeated by 142 to 58 votes. In all 64 abstained from voting. The trial of strength conducted on the floor of the house had in all nine rebel Congress MLAs and six TDP dissident legislators on their feet supporting the motion. They all defied the whips issued by their respective parties.

The Congress MLAs who sailed with the opposition are Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Sujai Krishna Ranga Rao, Gottipati Ravikumar, Jogi Rramesh, Perni Nani, Alla Nani, Chintalapudi Rajesh, Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy and Buchepalli Sivaram Prasad.

The TDP MLAs who voted for the no-trust motion are -Praveen Kumar Reddy, Amarnath Reddy, Vanitha, Kodali Nani, Balanagi Reddy and P Sairaj. Congress MLAs Marri Sashidhar Reddy and Tekkali MLA Bharati did not turn up for voting while Shankar Rao reached house the by wheel chair to take part in voting.A Earlier, Speaker N Manohar announced that he had received two notices for moving the no-trust motions. Since the TRS had first given the notice, he announced that he was allowing TRS floor leader to move the motion for taking leave of the House.

The motion was admitted after 45 members belonging to the TRS, YSRCP, CPI, BJP, CPI(M), Lok Satta, suspended TDP member K Harishwar Reddy and Independent member Nagam Janardhan Reddy supported it. The minimum requirement for admitting a no-confidence motion is 30, one-tenth of the strength of the House. Soon after that the Speaker adjourned the House for about half-an-hour and decided to take up the debate on Friday itself.

Initiating the debate, TRS member Harish Rao launched a scathing attack against the State Government and accused it of discriminating against the Telangana region in different sectors, including payment of ex-gratia to workers. Only after prolonged T agitation, and after the T people held the government by its collar, the government has come forward to sanction a medical college in Adilabad.

This led to a spat between the Chief Minister and Harish Rao. Labour Minister D Nagendar refuted Rao's claim and criticised the TRS for not mentioning about Telangana in the notice tabled expressing no-confidence in the Council of Ministers. However, the member was talking about Telangana in the debate. Rao said there was no need to make a special mention on Telangana as whatever TRS leaders took up was for Telangana only.

The House witnessed another round of pandemonium when the YSRCP leader Y S Vijayamma criticised TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu's misrule. TDP deputy leader M Narsimhulu referred to the chargesheet filed by the CBI against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and questioned how leaders of that party had amassed huge amount of wealth. He also referred to the palatial buildings of the YSRCP president in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The YSRCP members trooped into the Well of the House and demanded that the remarks be expunged. At one stage a YSRCP member pulled out the mike and headphones and hurled at Narsimhulu.

Lok Satta leader Dr Jayaprakash Narayan said the struggle for power was apparent among the people's representatives. The government has only numerical strength, but there was no rule in the state. People were seen as vote machines. The average expenditure of each member in each constituency was more than Rs 5 crore. He said the expenditure in one constituency during the recent by-poll was estimated at Rs 8 crore, he said and added that the crisis would further deepen if the members of the Assembly failed to change their tendencies.

Jayaprakash Narayan said there was no scope to discuss the development in the Assembly. He said the State was thrown into darkness with the power cuts. The Congress party would be remembered as 'betrayer' in the history of Telangana and accused the Congress of being responsible for diluting the image of the Assembly. He asked the Congress leaders, "can't you think of wealth to the state instead of amassing wealth for self. If the same tendency continues, the state will be in doldrums," he observed.

Taking JP's remarks seriously, the Chief Minister said he was insulting the voters. He said JP was not a lone intellectual in the State and it was not proper to doubt the verdict of the people. Replying to the remark, JP retorted that why the CM was reacting when he revealed facts. He challenged that he would tender his resignation, if he could prove that he had paid even one rupee to buy votes. The leaders were acting as if they were sacrificing a lot for the sake of farmers, he said expressing deep concern that the marketyards had been made as burial grounds.