Andhra Pradesh Opposition party YSR Congress today formally filed a petition with Legislative Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, seeking disqualification of its eight MLAs who have defected to the ruling Telugu Desam Party.
Hours before the start of the budget session of the Legislature, a delegation of YSRC MLAs led by party leader Jyothula Nehru, met Rao and filed the petition, seeking action against the defecting MLAs as per ‘Schedule X’ of the Constitution.
Eight MLAs – Bhuma Nagi Reddy, Bhuma Akhila Priya, C Adinarayana Reddy, Jaleel Khan, T Jayaramulu, P David Raju, M Mani Gandhi, and K V Ramana Murthy – have left YSRC and joined the TDP since February 22.
“Crossing over to another party after getting elected on one party symbol is unethical. We requested the Speaker to immediately take action against such MLAs in accordance with the Anti-Defection Act.
“He assured us he would go by the rules and take a decision at the earliest,” Nehru told reporters after their meeting with the Speaker.
He said the party submitted some material evidence like video recordings and audio clips against the MLAs to establish their defection.
“If the Speaker acts justly on our plea, we may not be required to move a no-confidence motion against him. Else, we may have to. But we are looking into some technical issues on this,” he said.