A brief 5-day Winter session of the state Assembly begins here tomorrow, with the TDP's proposed no-confidence motion against the government the highlight.
A brief 5-day Winter session of the state Assembly begins here tomorrow, and the high-voltage move by the main opposition TDP to bring a no-confidence motion against the government seems to be an exercise aimed at exposing the chinks in the Congress and the attitude of the TRS, and not to just to test the strength of the Kiran Kumar government and its supporters.
The 2004 elections were fought between the TDP against all others, and the 2009 scene was the Congress against all others.
Both times, the Congress was the winner. In the last polls, the TDP lost many seats thanks to the PRP in the fray, and this time around, the TDP sees a threat in the YSR Congress, and wants to consolidate its base in coastal Andhra.
The No-Confidence Motion, if at all the TDP moves it, will serve the purpose of testing the actual strength of the ruling party, and show which parties are going with Kiran Kumar Reddy.
The exercise can best be described as logging the loyalties, as the TDP on its own cannot trounce the Congress.
It remains to be seen who will support the TDP. But the more interesting point will be if all members elected on the Congress ticket will vote for the party.
Should the Congress issue a whip, the MLAs aligned with the YSR Congress will be in trouble, and should the group identified as pro-YSR Congress decide to support the government, the no-confidence becomes a non-issue.
The TRS has already said that it will extend support if TDP moves the No-Confidence Motion. This brings two parties with contrasting ideologies together, and the same can be said if MLAs going with Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy decide to vote in favour of the ruling party.
Any which way, the no confidence motion will stir the hornets' nest, and offer a good chance and platform for parties to hurl allegations against each other.
If, for some reason, the opposition decides not to move the motion, many issues including the price rise, minimum support price to farmers, corruption at high places and the Obulapuram Mining Case will come up for discussion.
The House will sit on Sunday to adopt some important Bills. (INN)