YSR Congress To Boycott Rest Of AP Assembly Session

In an attempt to up the ante against the treasury benches over the one-year suspension of YSR Congress Party legislator R K Roja, the Leader of the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and the YSR Congress Party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, along with all his party members, today staged a boycott of the ongoing Assembly session.

As soon as the House met on Monday, Jagan raised the issue of Roja's suspension and urged the Speaker to revoke the same by reviewing the decision under Clause 7 of Schedule 10. He said that the suspension of the MLA was undemocratic and autocratic. He also demanded a discussion on the call money sex racket.

However, Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu made it clear that the suspension on Roja would not be revoked under any circumstances. He also said that the discussion on the call money sex racket was over and that there was nothing more to discuss on the issue.

While endorsing the views of the minister, Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao said that if the Opposition could assure that the situation that led to Roja's suspension would not repeat in the House and the member apologized, then he could still consider reviewing his decision.

Jagan refused to make any such commitment and announced that his Party would boycott the rest of the session and walked out with his MLAs. The Speaker should suspend all the YSR Congress members if he could not revoke the suspension order, Jagan reportedly said before leaving. He also added, "You must not ignore the fact that people are watching this undemocratic way of running the Assembly."

Jagan reportedly also indicated that his Party would move a no-confidence motion against the Speaker on the suspension on December 22, the last day of the session. Jagan is learnt to have decided to issue a notice in this regard on Tuesday after a meeting with his Party's legislators.

According to informed sources, the Opposition leader is also leaving no stone unturned to exploit the call money sex racket.