Hyderabad: The 16 rebel Congress MLAs
and one of the Praja Rajyam Party, facing disqualification
proceedings for voting against Kiran Kumar Reddy government in
December 5 trust vote, will get one more chance to present
their case before Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker during the
Budget session beginning Monday.
Though it was expected that Speaker Nadendla Manohar
would pronounce his verdict on the MLAs` disqualification
prior to the commencement of the Budget Session, it did not
happen.
Informed sources said that the Speaker was willing
to
give a fresh chance to the rebel MLAs to present their case
individually on the disqualification proceedings.
The 17 MLAs, owing allegiance to YSR Congress party of
Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, did not appear before the
Speaker to present their version on the disqualification issue
despite repeated notices by Manohar.
Violating the whips of their respective parties, they
had
voted against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government on the
no-confidence motion on December 5.
All the 17 MLAs appeared before the Speaker en masse
only
once. However, the Speaker wanted to strictly go by rules and
procedures and asked the MLAs to appear before him
individually.
The Jagan-loyalists, however, remained defiant and
maintained that they need not heed the Speaker`s advice.
The lone PRP MLA B Sobha Nagi Reddy also tendered her
resignation and wanted the Speaker to either disqualify her or
accept the resignation.
Accordingly, everyone expected the Speaker to take an
ex-parte decision on the disqualification issue before the
start of the Budget Session.
But the tale took a curious twist when some of the 17
MLAs
reportedly complained to the Speaker that they were
"prevented" from appearing before him and present their case,
the sources said.
Following this, the Speaker is said to have decided
not to
take any decision on the disqualification issue in haste.
PTI
