Cong Defeats No Trust Vote 142 To 122

The Kiran Kumar Reddy government has survived the no confidence motion tabled by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and supported by the YSR Congress party.

After marathon discussions of several hours, the no confidence motion was defeated by 84 votes. Of 264 members present in the House, 142 voted against the motion, 58 supported it while 64 members remained neutral. After a battle of words, several rounds of discussions, allegations, counter-allegations, passing of remarks and protests, the voting took place at 1am on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. The voting process was completed in almost 40 minutes.

With the main opposition TDP and MIM not supporting the no confidence motion, the result was obvious. However, the TRS insisted on division that exposed the cracks in the TDP. As many as 6 TDP MLAs defied the party whip to support the no trust vote. They include Kodali Nani, Praveen Kumar Reddy, Balanagi Reddy, K Vanitha and Sairaj.

Similarly, the Congress too suffered a jolt when as many as 9 of its own MLAs voted in favour of the no confidence motion. They include Jogi Ramesh, S Krishna Ranga Rao, B Shivaprasad Reddy and Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy.

Backed by more than required numbers, a confident Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy defended himself against every allegation leveled against his government by the opposition parties. He used the occasion to list the achievements of the government during his two-year tenure. When TRS floor leader Eetela Rajender accused the Congress government of cheating the people of Telangana, and insisted on a Telangana resolution in the Assembly, the Chief Minister categorically stated that the statehood resolution would be defeated in the State Legislative Assembly. He said that the Centre was making efforts to resolve the Telangana issue.

On the other side, the TRS scored a point by highlighting issues concerning the Telangana region. TRS leaders Eetela Rajender and T Harish Rao reiterated that the sole objective of their party was to achieve statehood for the region.

After the end of discussion, Speaker Nadendla Manohar asked for a headcount starting with those who are in favour of the motion. The MLAs were asked to rise and the assembly officials took the headcount by visiting their seats. Similarly, the number of MLAs against the motion was counted.

When the Speaker asked the MLAs who are neutral to rise, the MLAs were greeted by slogans of 'Shame!' by the TRS MLAs.

The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen with seven members and the lone Lok Satta Party MLA Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan abstained from the voting.

Although Kiran Kumar Reddy has survived the no confidence motion for the second time, the statistics clearly revealed the erosion of the Congress base in the Assembly in the last 15 months. During the first no confidence motion moved by the TDP on December 2011, the Kiran Kumar Reddy enjoyed the support of 160 members as against 122 MLAs. However, this time the number has come down to 142. By voting in favour of the no confidence motion, 9 Congress MLAs have brought the Congress Government into minority as it falls short of six MLAs to maintain the magic figure of 148 in the 294-member House.

Addressing the media after the no confidence motion, TRS leaders said that Kiran Kumar Reddy has lost the moral right to continue in power as his government was in minority. (INN)