Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana on Wednesday slammed YSR Congress Party president Jaganmohan Reddy and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu for the
No Confidence Motion against Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, saying that the Motion was taken up only to protect their political interests.
Talking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan, Botsa Satyanarayana said that the MLAs supporting Jaganmohan Reddy did not turn up for the discussion on drought, during the Assembly session, and that they were now shedding "crocodile tears" on the farmers' issue.
He said that that Jagan had reportedly assured the MLAs that he would bear the by-election expenditure.
The PCC chief said that there was no need for the Congress party to lure the Jagan camp with coercive methods or blackmail as is being alleged by them. Instead, he said, Jagan might have offered money to 16 MLAs to make them defy the party's whip.
Responding to a question on him collecting signatures supporting Jagan's candidature for the Chief Minister's post after YSR's demise, he said, "This clearly shows how much respect I had for YSR's family members."
"In a democracy, the legal heirs of YSR cannot claim the Chief Minister's post after his death," he added.
Responding to Jagan's
challenge to the Congress to disqualify 16 MLAs for violating the whip, Botsa said that the party would not listen to his advice, and added that it would take a decision at an appropriate time.
He said that both Jagan and Chandrababu Naidu had dreamt that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government would collapse with the introduction of the no-trust motion.
However, the motion has cost their plans dearly, he said. (INN)