Andhra govt faces no-trust vote today

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly will take up a no-confidence motion moved by opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) against the Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government over farmer suicides.

Zeenews Bureau

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Assembly will take up a no-confidence motion moved by opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) against the Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government over farmer suicides.

However, the threat looming over Kiran Kumar Reddy’s government appears to have blown over with the 17-member Praja Rajyam Party group deciding to vote against the motion.

As of now, the strength of the House is 294 - six MLAs have resigned and one member has passed away. The government technically needs 144 to get a majority. The Congress has 153 members on its side with 17 PRP MLAs, they should sail through.

The central leadership of the Congress played a crucial in resolving the crisis, especially in view of the concerns about MLAs close to Jagan ditching the government at the crucial juncture.

AICC leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel, besides Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and state Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana worked behind the scenes to get the house in order ahead of the trust vote.

"I spoke to Chiranjeevi... There will not be any problem with his MLAs," Reddy told reporters in an informal chat in the Assembly yesterday.

Chiranjeevi admitted there was "discontentment" among his MLAs, who recently merged with the Congress.

The Congress issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to be present in the House to vote against the no-trust motion. The whip was sent through telegram to over half-a-dozen members as they were not available in their districts.

Principal Opposition Telugu Desam Party, which moved the motion, also issued a whip to its members directing them to vote for the no-confidence. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti too issued a whip in favour of the no-confidence motion while the CPI and the CPM said they would support the TDP`s motion.

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